The World's Only "Sustainable Design Award," Together with Global Design Leaders
Entries for the "Seoul Design Award 2025" are in full swing. The Seoul Design Award, which marks its 6th edition this year, is the world's only "sustainable design award," developed with sustainability and social value at its center. The Seoul Design Award, established by the Seoul city government in 2019 and organized by the Seoul Design Foundation, has discovered design projects that solve real social problems and have a positive impact on the local community and the environment. Starting with 75 entries at its launch, last year this award gathered 575 projects from 65 countries, establishing itself as a truly internationally prestigious platform.
2025: The Further-Evolved "Seoul Design Award"
The core philosophy of the Seoul Design Award, which once again seeks to gather with designers from around the world and deliver a powerful message about sustainability, is that "design is the language of problem-solving, and a practice of advancing toward a better society." Keeping the message that illuminates the true "role of design" beyond mere aesthetic excellence, this year's Seoul Design Award proposes a broader stage and an innovative format to participants.
An Opportunity to Receive Feedback from 32 World-Class Global Experts from 21 Countries
This year's Seoul Design Award operates a panel of judges made up of 32 design experts from 21 countries around the world, to further strengthen the fairness of judging. The judges, composed of the highest authorities in the design world, will provide participants with in-depth feedback throughout the entire process from the preliminary round to the final round. Design leaders from various countries who will make designers' hearts flutter join in — Ezio Manzini, a scholar in the field of sustainable social-innovation design; Patricia Moore, a pioneer of universal design; Andrea Cancellato, an expert in design policy and public culture; Pradyumna Vyas, a global leader driving India's design policy and the incoming president of the World Design Organization (WDO); and Dawn Lim, who leads Singapore's design ecosystem. The judges will evaluate the essential value of design, focusing not simply on form or function but on the relationship design forms with society.
The judging method is also new. In particular, this year "on-site presentation judging" is newly introduced, so that the 10 teams advancing to the final round will present their projects in person at the "Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)" on October 24. The grand-prize winner is to be selected by combining the scores of the global judging panel and a citizen evaluation panel, confirming a meaningful and original structure in which design experts and ordinary citizens together evaluate "valuable design."
Submissions Until June 30 — Now Is the Moment to Take the Challenge
Submission to the Seoul Design Award is free. Any project in which a designer participated, such as a social-value project, can be entered. The eligibility range is also broad so that anyone — individual designers, studios, companies, students, and more — can participate. The entry categories are divided, based on the "UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," into four categories: health and peace, equality of opportunity, energy and environment, and cities and community. Realized projects can be entered in the "Main Award" category, and prototypes and ideas in the "Concept Award" category; the total prize money is to be awarded to a total of 61 winning works on a scale of 150 million won, including one grand-prize team (50 million won), nine best-award teams (10 million won each), and two concept-award teams (5 million won each).
If you want to be a designer who seeks to change the world through sustainable design, it is now your turn. The Seoul Design Award seeks to provide not a mere chance at an award but a stage where change can be realized. Submit an idea that will change the world to the Seoul Design Award right now.
[How to Submit] Apply through the [Submission] menu on the website (www.seouldesignaward.or.kr) by 3 p.m. (KST) on June 30, 2025.]
by Editor L