Public Design Festival 2023 shines light on accessible design in Busan

The Public Design Festival 2023 in Busan showcases universal design in everyday life, aiming for accessibility and inclusion for all people. The festival will take place from Oct. 20 to 29 at the F1963 cultural complex.

F1963 in Busan, the main exhibition venue for the Public Design Festival 2023 [KOREA CRAFT AND DESIGN FOUNDATION]

The Public Design Festival is back, once again shedding light on the design of everything surrounding us — from apartment elevators to classroom interiors.

Organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation (KCDF), this year is the festival's second edition. It will take place from Oct. 20 to 29 with its focus on Busan.

The main exhibition, the hallmark of the festival, is held at the F1963 cultural complex in the southeastern port city's Suyeong District. Last year’s exhibit was held at the Culture Station Seoul 284 in Jung District, central Seoul.

F1963, which used to be a wire rope manufacturer, is now one of Busan’s major hot spots, home to a library, bookstore, cafes, restaurants, exhibitions and concert venues.

Under the theme “Design for All,” the exhibition shows the A to Z of experiencing universal design in daily life. Universal design refers to the composition of an environment so it can be accessible and used by all people, regardless of age, size or disability.

Venues like the National Maritime Museum of Korea in Busan, the National Museum of World Writing Systems in Incheon and the Tangeum Healing Leports Park in Chungju and, of course, the F1953, have been built according to the principles of universal design.

It has a social role in that it solves everyday problems, according to Han Jung-hee, curator of the exhibit, during a press conference on Thursday. Some examples of this include 3-D textbooks for people with visual impairments or shopping carts for wheelchair users.

The exhibition is simple and can easily relate to anyone, Han said, as it has been organized into six spaces: home, neighborhood, school, office, shopping center and public transportation. Such an arrangement will help visitors “realize how public design is all around us,” she said.

There are also workshops, hands-on programs and seminars available during the festival, held across the country. The venues can be found here, but they are only available in Korean.

The KCDF hopes to develop the Public Design Festival so that it can help bring attention to public design for different cities, and hinted that future editions may spotlight elsewhere so that it doesn’t become too centered on the greater Seoul area.

The main exhibition is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are free.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]