The 2026 Korea Public Design Awards' Presidential Award was presented to the "Living Lab Yonyong Lab" project by the Yongsan District Office in Seoul for its Han River District Safety Design initiative, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft and Design Culture Promotion Agency announced on August 19.
The award-winning project addressed issues in the Han River District, where residential and commercial areas overlap, leading to noise, illegal dumping, and parking difficulties. Residents, the district office, and police collaborated through the Living Lab approach, where community members identify problems and design solutions. The project included illuminated signs with QR codes for crime reporting to combat unauthorized entries and introduced public order lighting to mitigate noise from commercial areas, effectively translating community concerns into public design solutions. It received high praise for establishing a model of public design that encourages active and autonomous participation from stakeholders, going beyond mere complaint resolution and facility improvement.
In the project category, three awards were given by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, six by the Director of the Korea Craft and Design Culture Promotion Agency, and four by the President of the Korean Public Design Association. The Minister's awards included the "Children's Room of Tomorrow" project at the Dujeong Library in Cheonan and the "Branding and Attraction Project for the Abandoned Mureunggol Village" in Jeongseon.
In the research category, the Minister's award went to a study on "Strategies for Urban Public Art to Enhance Urban Competitiveness" by Park Jae-eun. This research proposed treating over 4,500 public art pieces and sculptures in Seoul not merely as decorations but as assets in urban planning, offering direction for public policy.
The awards ceremony will take place on October 23 during the opening event of the "Public Design Festival 2026" at Artio (RTO) in Cultural Station Seoul 284. The project award winners will be showcased in a planned exhibition titled "Design of Care" opening on September 16 at Cultural Station Seoul 284. The research award winner will present their findings at the "Joint Academic Conference of Related Societies" on October 24 at Artio (RTO) in Cultural Station Seoul 284.
Minister Choi Hwi-young stated, "This year's selected projects demonstrate that the subjects of public design are not limited to government or experts, but that everyone can be a designer of public design. We will support these initiatives to ensure that the value of public design is felt by citizens in their daily lives, rather than just identifying excellent cases."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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