SPACE November 2025 (No. 696)
The 5th Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism is currently taking place in sites across central Seoul, including Songhyeon Green Plaza, Gwanghwamun Square, and the Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture. Opening on the 26th of September, this year’s Biennale carries the theme ‘Radically More Human’. Thomas Heatherwick (director, Heatherwick Studio), general director of the Biennale, focuses on the architectural façade as a key strategy in creating cities that feel more human. SPACE examines how this design and curatorial idea is being realised in the planning and execution of the exhibitions, while also reflecting on the challenges and limitations revealed in an event that places ‘popularity’ as its foremost concern.
The Walls of Public Life visible beyond the Humanise Wall. ©Bang Yukyung
Now in its fifth edition, the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (hereinafter the Seoul Biennale) drew major attention from the outset when Thomas Heatherwick, one of Britain’s leading architects and designers, was appointed as general director. The announcement was met with both anticipation and concern; anticipation at how a creator known for his inventive and engaging formal language might infuse Seoul with a new energy, and concern that the event could devolve into a one-off spectacle built on the fame of a star architect. In fact, Heatherwick was commissioned as general director in June 2024, shortly after winning International Design Competition for the Nodeul Global Art Island. Setting aside the controversy surrounding that competition within the architectural community (covered in SPACE Nos. 677, 680, 684), questions still lingered over whether he could, within such a short period, fully grasp and interpret the urban and architectural context of Seoul in order to curate an exhibition on this scale.
The theme of this year’s Seoul Biennale, ‘Radically More Human’, is also a question that Thomas Heatherwick has long pursued. In essence, it suggests that architecture which feels attractive to people is, by nature...
