The 2025 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Design was an amazing opportunity to start a city-wide conversation about the role of buildings. The theme of the three-month event was ‘radically more human’, and more than 800,000 people took part.

The Humanise Wall was designed as an unmissable conversation-starter – a four storey high installation featuring 400 buildings from around the world. Alongside it were 24 specially commissioned ‘walls of public life’ by the likes of Stella McCartney, Edward Lee and Kengo Kuma – design to inspire citizens about how interesting the outsides of buildings could be.

There were also nine genuinely impressive projects organised by creative community groups to really get under the skin of what Seoulites want from their buildings and neighbourhoods. The Emotional City conference brought together more than 450 researchers, city leaders, designers and planners from around the world to share the latest research and motivation. And more than 12,000 people joined in architecture runs, workshops, and education programmes.