Public Design Festival to Transform Everyday Life to Be Held at 230 Sites Nationwide

[Financial News] A public design festival exploring how everyday spaces, including libraries and unused areas beneath railway tracks, are changing will be held nationwide. Visitors can take part in hands-on activities and lectures, and see examples of residents taking the initiative to improve their living environments.■ Experience Public Design in Everyday Life at Hubs NationwideAccording to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 22nd, it and the Korea Craft & Design Foundation (KCDF) will hold Public Design Festival 2026 from the 23rd through November 1 at Culture Station Seoul 284 and 230 public design hubs nationwide. Now in its fifth edition, the festival’s theme is “Public Design Connecting Local Communities and Everyday Life.”
Public design encompasses not only the design of public facilities but also design intended to prevent crime and consider users’ needs. It also includes universal design, which enables everyone to use spaces and facilities regardless of age, gender or disability.
The number of participating hubs has grown from 101 in 2022 to 230 this year, a record high. Participants include the One-Person Household Community Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul; Uijeongbu Art Library in Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi Province; and Osong Seonha Maru, which makes use of disused space beneath railway tracks in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.
Of these, 61 hubs will host 46 programs, including hands-on activities, lectures and markets. Programs include the Cheongju Public Design Tour, which visits five hubs in Cheongju, and A Downtown Stroll Through Art, which visits three hubs in Seogwipo, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.
On the 29th, 12 experts from Korea and abroad will hold a forum at JCC Art Center in Seoul on the theme “Digital and Public Design: New Ways of Experiencing.” Eight universities nationwide will also run the Public Design Lab, where ideas for solving everyday problems will be tested in the field.
Sprout Market, a resource-circulation market involving children, will be held on the 24th at the Onyang Folk Museum in Asan, South Chungcheong Province. A mobile stamp-collection program will also run during the festival, with participants visiting hubs nationwide and collecting stamps on their phones.■ Presidential Award for Living Safety Design; 17 Works to Be HonoredAt the opening ceremony on the 23rd at Culture Station Seoul 284, awards will be presented to 17 winning works in the 2026 Korea Public Design Awards, and three local government officials will receive citations for their contributions to promoting public design.
The Presidential Award will go to the Hangangno-dong Living Safety Design Project, carried out through Yongyong Lab, a resident-participation living lab in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The project brought residents, the district office and the police together to find solutions to noise, illegal dumping and parking problems in the community.
The winning works in the project category will be exhibited through November 1 in conjunction with the special exhibition Design of Care at Culture Station Seoul 284. The results of the winning research projects will be presented on the 24th at a joint academic conference of related societies at the same venue. Details of the programs and how to make advance reservations are available on the festival’s official website.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young said, “Public design in recent years has expanded into the work of changing people’s everyday experiences,” and expressed hope that the festival would connect local communities with everyday life and give the public an opportunity to experience the value of public design.

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