SMALLrevolution converts plastic waste into documented resources to reframe the material lifecycle
SEOUL DESIGN AWARD OPENS LIVE EVALUATIONS AND GLOBAL VOTING
Chosen from over 1,200 submissions across 91 countries, the Seoul Design Award 2026 top 10 finalists showcase global projects driving sustainable daily living. Built to honor designs that support balance between people, society, and the environment, the competition elevates work tackling urgent social and ecological challenges. In a shift from traditional closed-door judging, the 2026 program brings the ten shortlisted teams to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on October 14 for on-stage evaluations.
Expanding public involvement in the selection process, the organization has officially launched its online global public voting phase, inviting audiences worldwide to cast their votes alongside the expert jury. The integration of real-time jury assessment with global public voting turns the award into an open, interactive exchange on the future of sustainable design.
Seoul Design Award and Conference 2026, Kampung Mrican Phase 1 revitalizes a dense riverfront community in Yogyakarta | all images courtesy of Seoul Design Award
NINE-MEMBER JURY LEADS ON-STAGE EVALUATIONS
Established as a key initiative within Seoul’s UNESCO Creative City of Design legacy, the award measures projects by their social utility and ecological impact rather than commercial gain. The top 10 live competition features a nine-member international jury on stage, including industry leaders Mauro Porcini (President & Chief Design Officer at Samsung Electronics), Sungwon Jee (CMO & Executive Vice President at Hyundai Motor Company), Andrea Cancellato (Director of ADI Design Museum), and Martin Zelger (CEO of DAAily platforms AG / designboom). In an expansion of this year’s program, three designboom Special Prize winners will be recognized, receiving dedicated editorial coverage to give both the projects and designers global visibility.
The announcement forms part of the broader Seoul Design Conference 2026: THINK · MAKE · CHANGE, a full-day event hosted at DDP exploring how creative fields respond to global shifts. Beyond the live competition, the conference features presentations from the inaugural ESG Design Impact Award recipients, including Hyundai Motor Company, Patagonia, athome, and RHINOSHIELD, focusing on corporate sustainability systems. A dedicated session co-hosted with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) will examine policies and global frameworks for circularity in electronics.
Closing the event, Session 3 offers a first look at the World Design Congress Seoul 2027, culminating in a ceremony to unveil its official brand identity. Designed to reflect dynamic connectivity and circular thinking, the visual identity sets the direction for Seoul’s next chapter as a global design epicenter, showing how visual communication and strategic action can inspire long-term change.
hosted at ddp, seoul design conference 2026 examines global sustainability frameworks
SCALING MATERIAL INNOVATION FOR A CIRCULAR FUTURE
The top 10 finalists reflect a clear shift toward community-driven resilience and circular design systems. Focused on social impact, key projects support vulnerable populations and local action: Otter Newborn Warmer offers a portable conductive device to prevent neonatal hypothermia in low-resource healthcare settings, while WheeLog! functions as a crowdsourced accessibility platform that allows wheelchair users to map urban mobility barriers. In urban and cultural settings, Kampung Mrican Phase 1 applies targeted interventions to revitalize a dense riverfront village in Yogyakarta, Na-Eh Karen Cultural Market establishes a community-owned forest food hub celebrating Indigenous Karen identity, and Suber Design converts recycled cork into circular furniture produced by disadvantaged groups.
Suber Design turns recycled cork into circular furniture, merging material innovation with social inclusion
In parallel, industrial and material innovations among the finalists demonstrate how circularity scales across manufacturing, waste, and marine management. Lavazza Group’s Tablì redefines capsule coffee through a single-serve system using pure coffee without plastic or aluminum waste. Meanwhile, LAKAT Sustainable Sneakers transforms pineapple agricultural by-products and natural rubber into footwear. On a systemic scale, Process-Controlled Waste Sorting Rear Module | ET35 connects public recycling drop-offs directly to frontline sanitation operations, SMALLrevolution creates a closed-loop tracking mechanism that turns plastic waste into documented raw materials, and Reef Tiles by ReefCircular uses region-specific computational design to restore fragile marine ecosystems.
Reef Tiles by ReefCircular pairs computational design with sustainable materials to support underwater installation
WheeLog! maps urban mobility barriers by crowdsourcing the real-world experiences of wheelchair users
Na-Eh Karen Cultural Market functions as a community-owned forest food hub
Otter Newborn Warmer provides a portable conductive device that prevents neonatal hypothermia
ET35 connects public recycling drop-offs to frontline operations, improving worker conditions and waste management efficiency
Lavazza Group’s Tablì delivers pure coffee without aluminum or plastic waste
LAKAT Sustainable Sneakers transforms pineapple agricultural by-products and natural rubber into a circular footwear solution
project info:
name: Seoul Design Award 2026 | @seouldesignaward
public voting: https://www.seouldesignaward.or.kr/vote202
deadline: October 7th, 2026
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