Seoul Design Foundation Hosts UDP Design Exhibition for All... 12 Companies and Organizations Participate

Universal Design Awareness Expansion
Online Live Seminar on "Design for All" Hosted Jointly by DDP and IKEA at UDP on the 16th

Samsung C&T Hartist

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Design Foundation announced on the 12th that it will operate exhibitions and citizen participation programs involving 12 companies and institutions at UDP (UD Lifestyle Platform), which opened last year at DDP, to promote the concept of universal design and revitalize the design industry.

UDP is composed of three exhibition spaces to propose a better future lifestyle. It showcases how universal design contributes to urban life and residential environments through UD Home, representing individual residential life; UD CITY, representing shared urban life; and UD LIBRARY, a library that provides design value and inspiration to UD producers and consumers. Through the exhibited products, visitors can experience the values of UD pursued by domestic and international companies and the changes in future lifestyles based on smart technology.

First, ‘UD Home’ features companies such as Samsung C&T Fashion Division HATIST, Dyson Korea, Dior Research Institute, Saturn Bath, Fursys, and Boksundoga, presenting fashion, home appliances, furniture, and small tools reflecting universal design.

‘UD CITY,’ which aims to socially share and empathize with universal design, includes participation from companies and institutions that contribute to the convenience of the urban environment, such as SK Telecom, Co-Actors, Dot, M-Tix Korea, Seoul Facilities Corporation, and IKEA Korea. They plan to discuss solutions to improve quality of life with visitors and build consensus.

‘UD LIBRARY,’ which provides design value and inspiration, is a community space intended to introduce new design trends to citizens, experts, and stakeholders. The library, equipped with 3,418 monographs and 82 serial publications on topics such as design, lifestyle, fashion, architecture, interior, sustainability, and universal design, plans to offer citizen participation programs including author meetings and online book talks for communication.

Meanwhile, in connection with the exhibition, the first seminar of the UD Lifestyle Platform will be held at 2 p.m. on the 16th. Considering the current COVID-19 situation, it will be broadcast live online via the DDP website and YouTube so that any citizen can watch. The seminar’s theme is ‘Design for All: IKEA Democratic Design,’ and Anton H?gkvist, IKEA’s Head of Interior Design, is scheduled to give a lecture. IKEA pursues ‘Democratic Design’ applying universal design and continuously introduces user-friendly and sustainable future design products.

Starting with this seminar, various citizen participation programs will be conducted both online and offline, including the Seoul UD Lifestyle Contest and Exhibition (September to December), book talks and reading groups (ongoing), sustainable food workshops (September), furniture reform design for a sustainable environment (November), and a Christmas tree design citizen participation workshop (December), allowing citizens to experience universal design.

Yoo Yeon-sik, Acting CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation, said, “We hope that citizens will experience ‘design for all’ through the UD Lifestyle Platform exhibitions and seminars and encounter designs for a better future regardless of disability, gender, or age,” adding, “We hope that the participation of companies will revitalize the related design industry, and we will continue to promote ongoing cooperation.”