Design Destination: Seoul
Curated by Sandy Park

Curatorial Statement

On the international design scene, Seoul emerges as a profound narrative of creative transformation. This collection, curated by Sandy Park, offers an intimate exploration of Korean design’s remarkable capacity to weave tradition and innovation into a seamless, compelling tapestry.

Design Destination: Seoul is a dialogue between past and present, a nuanced conversation where cultural heritage breathes life into contemporary creative expression. Each piece in this collection represents a deliberate act of reimagination, where designers like Eunji Jun, Halin Lee, Dongwook Choi, and Rahee Yoon challenge conventional boundaries, transforming materials and techniques into profound statements of cultural identity.

The collection reveals the distinctive Korean design ethos: an extraordinary ability to absorb global influences while maintaining a deeply rooted sense of self. From WKND Lab’s Maedeup, which reinterprets traditional knotting techniques, to Studio Practice’s fusion of industrial materials with noble elements, these works demonstrate a radical approach to design—one that sees tradition not as a constraint, but as a dynamic source of inspiration.

Material innovation stands at the heart of this collection. Designers like Bureau Parso and Atelier Sohn push the boundaries of materiality, transforming industrial waste and metals into sculptural pieces that challenge our understanding of craft, sustainability, and aesthetic potential. Each piece tells a story of transformation, of finding beauty and meaning in unexpected places.

Spirituality and meditation emerge as recurring themes, reflecting the profound philosophical underpinnings of Korean design. Lee Hyokk’s Invisible Chair and Saerom Yoon’s A Piece of One Day_Pray series invite viewers to pause, to reflect, to see beyond the immediate functional purpose of design. These works are not mere objects, but spaces of contemplation that bridge the material and the metaphysical.

What makes this collection extraordinary is its rejection of trend-driven design. Instead, it offers a deeper narrative—one of cultural authenticity, of design as a method of understanding and expressing identity. The works here do not seek to be consumed, but to be engaged with, to provoke thought and inspire a more nuanced appreciation of creative practice.

As curator Sandy Park notes, this is a design language that “values creativity, sustainability, and resourcefulness.” It is an approach that sees design not as a static discipline, but as a living, breathing dialogue between heritage and future, between individual vision and collective identity.

Design Destination: Seoul is an invitation—to slow down, to look closer, to recognize design not just as an aesthetic choice, but as a profound form of cultural communication. It challenges us to see beyond the surface, to appreciate the intricate stories woven into each carefully crafted piece.

In this collection, Korean design represents a moment in creative history. It charts a path forward—a vision of design that is simultaneously deeply rooted and endlessly transformative.

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