PROGRAM
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Opening Forum
September 27-28, 2025
Seoul City Hall, Multipurpose Hall (8F)
With the opening of the 5th Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, the forum themed ‘The Emotional City’ will explore new pathways for the future of cities worldwide.
Over the course of two days, it will bring together around 400 participants, including business leaders, urban planners, creative practitioners, community organizers, and neuroscientists.
Through groundbreaking research presentations, lectures by leading experts, and innovative projects from creative communities, participants will collectively explore questions such as, ‘How do building facades affect our health and society?’ and ‘How can we realize architecture that people truly love and that endures over time?’.
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Session 1 - September 27, 2025 (Sat) 10:00 - 12:30Cities for Citizens: Building for the Passers-by
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Welcome Speech
Oh Se-Hoon
Mayor of Seoul -
Keynote
Thomas Heatherwick
General Director -
Building for the Passers-By,
a panel discussion
Doran Kim (YOAP Architects, ‘Walls of Public Life’)
Namhi Kwun (CEO, Honmi Works; Creative Communities Project)
Jin Young Song (CEO, Dioneo Architects) · Jiyong Jeon (Ajou University)
*Moderator: Yoo Hyun Jun (Professor, Hongik University) -
Sound Skin: a duet between buildings
and the passers-by
Young-mi Lee (Artist), Jingyu Jwa (Architect)
Hyejin An (Synthesizer), GUYSTYLE (DJ) -
The Big Interview
Thomas Heatherwick (General Director)
Lee Jung Jae (Actor)
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Session 2 - September 27, 2025 (Sat) 14:00 - 17:30
Visual Complexity and Public Health
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Science, Sense and the City:
A new Urban Agenda
Dr Upali Nanda (Global Sector Director, Innovation, HKS, USA)
Dr Anna Kim (Humanise Campaign) -
Visual Complexity and the People of Seoul:
Facade Patterns and their Impact on Human
Neurophysiology
Cleo Valentine (Cambridge University)
Uemee Jung (Yonsei University) -
Can you really measure emotion?
Professor Rebecca Madgin
(Glasgow University)
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The business of radically more human buildings:
A property developer’s perspective
Midori Omori (CEO & Creative Director, NOT A TOKYO Inc.)
Richard Upton (Property Developer, Commissioner of Historic England) -
A poetry performance
Jun Park
(Poet)
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Session 3 - September 28, 2025 (Sun) 09:00 - 12:20
Creating buildings that are loved and last, instead of being demolished and rebuilt
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On site in the park at the Humanise Wall and among the Walls of Public Life
Songhyeon Green Plaza,
‘Humanise Wall’ & ‘Walls of Public Life’ -
How to be a good ancestor
Thomas Heatherwick
General Director -
The Redevelopment Debate:
Do we adapt or rebuild our cities?
Lay Bee Yap (Group Director, URA Singapore)
Jeong Im Kim (Principal Architect, SEORO Architects)
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How to be a good ancestor:
7 buildings from around the world that people love and cherish
Ma Yansong, SangYup Lee,
Nicole V. Zheng, Ronald Rael,
Mi Hee Kim, Neil Hubbard
Bhakti Loonawat, Suyash Sawant
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Session 4 - September 28, 2025 (Sun) 14:00 - 16:45
Stories from Seoul, Part I: A showcase of grassroots projects from the Seoul Biennale, exploring how to make buildings radically more human
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Seoul Story I: Exploring Ways to Make Building Facades More Human
Yujin Sim, Haeyoung Seo, Joon Won Suh
(Team Members, Creative Communities Project) -
Are the public oblivious?
The very latest research revealing public
attitudes to buildings in Seoul
*Presentation: Abigail Scott Paul (Global Campaign Director, Humanise Campaign)
*Debate: Jin Beak (Professor, Seoul National University) -
Stories from Seoul, Part II
Melody Song, Nilesh Kumar,
Minha Kim, Hyeokyoung Lee,
Moon Joo Lee, Sebastian Trujillo-Torres and Kruti Shah
(Creative Communities Project Team) -
Dancing Facades
Jinyeob Cha & the Sasasag Creative Collective
(Collective A + SETSETSET) -
Closing toast and thank you
Thomas Heatherwick
General Director
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