Seoul Design 2024 imagines the future with exhibitions, conferences and virtual idol naevis

Seoul Design 2024 kicks off Thursday with a new makeover. It’s no longer just an event that appreciates the art of design, but an industrial platform connecting designers and businesses to foster active collaborations.

″Light Architecture″ by Kang Yi-yun [SEOUL DESIGN FOUNDATION]

Seoul Design 2024 kicks off Thursday with a new makeover. It’s no longer just an event that appreciates the art of design, but an industrial platform connecting designers and businesses to foster active collaborations.

The annual event hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and organized by the Seoul Design Foundation is filled with design-related programs like exhibitions, flea markets and conferences.

This year’s Seoul Design, in its ninth edition, takes place at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul under the theme “Imagine Tomorrow,” in an attempt to explore how artificial intelligence will continue to impact design trends in the future.

Virtual idol naevis, launched by SM Entertainment, has been appointed as the event’s ambassador. During the opening ceremony at 6 p.m., the AI-generated singer will perform its debut single “Done” and be featured in a video conversation with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.

The thematic exhibition for Seoul Design 2024 showcases the large-scale immersive installation “Light Architecture” by artist Kang Yi-yun. The piece is comprised of kinetic modules that emit light in a dark space, forming a “network,” with the audience being represented as “fragments of data.”

Seoul Design 2024 also expanded the scale of its DDP Design Launching Fair, which introduces new prototypes that were created through the ideas of designers and the manufacturing channels of businesses.

“It’s important that the public gets to learn how design changes our future, especially from an industrial standpoint,” said the Seoul Design Foundation’s newly appointed chairman Cha Gang-hee in a press conference at the DDP on Thursday.

“This year is a stepping stone to turn Seoul Design into a MICE [meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions] event.”

Seoul Design 2024 continues until Oct. 27. More information can be found on the event’s website.

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