What is the Seoul Architecture Festival 2026 theme and what does it focus on?

The theme is Assembling Seoul: Discovering Seoul. It looks at how Seoul’s overlapping histories, places, cultures and people combine to shape the city today.

How long will the 18th Seoul Architecture Festival run and where is it being held?

It runs from Tuesday to Oct. 11, making it nearly a month-long event. The festival is being held at the Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture in Jung District, central Seoul.

What visitor goal did Seoul set for this year’s architecture festival?

The city said it hopes to attract more than 40,000 visitors this year. Last year’s two-week festival drew 19,505 visitors.

Seoul's largest architecture festival to enjoy extended run

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Summary

The Seoul Metropolitan Government opened the 18th Seoul Architecture Festival on Monday at the Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture in Jung District, central Seoul, extending it to nearly a month from Tuesday to Oct. 11. The festival highlights Korean architecture and lets residents engage with the field, with the city aiming to draw more than 40,000 visitors this year. Its theme, Assembling Seoul: Discovering Seoul, focuses on the city’s overlapping histories, places, cultures and people.

Key Facts

The festival drew 19,505 visitors last year when it ran for two weeks.
This year’s edition is organized around hybrid density, rapid evolution and glocality.
The centerpiece exhibit, Discovering Seoul, was created by festival director Kook Hyoung-gul and photographer Shin Kyung-sub using recycled wooden pallets.
The grand prize in the completed-building category of the 44th Seoul Architecture Awards went to the Seo-Seoul Museum of Art in Geumcheon District, designed by architect Kim Chan-Joong of THE_SYSTEM LAB.

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Published Sep 15, 2026 2:10 pm KST

A promotional poster for the 18th Seoul Architecture Festival / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

The Seoul Metropolitan Government opened the 18th Seoul Architecture Festival (SAF) on Monday, expanding the event to nearly a month, from Tuesday to Oct. 11, at the Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture in Jung District, central Seoul.

The festival, which showcases Korean architecture and lets residents engage directly with the field, ran for two weeks last year and drew 19,505 visitors. The city said it hopes to draw more than 40,000 this year.

This year's edition, "Assembling Seoul: Discovering Seoul," explores how Seoul's overlapping histories, places, cultures and people come together to shape the city today. It is organized around three concepts: hybrid density, rapid evolution and glocality — a blend of "global" and "local."

The centerpiece exhibit, "Discovering Seoul," is a collaboration between festival director Kook Hyoung-gul and photographer Shin Kyung-sub, who assembled recycled wooden pallets into a maze-like structure to display Shin's photographs of the city's architecture.

The festival also displays works by the winners of the 44th Seoul Architecture Awards. The grand prize in the completed-building category went to the Seo-Seoul Museum of Art in Geumcheon District, a media-art museum designed by architect Kim Chan-Joong of THE_SYSTEM LAB. In a new student category, the top prize went to a Hanyang University student's proposal for restoring and reusing parts of Seoul's centuries-old city walls.

Other programs include forums, talks by award-winning architects, walking tours of Seoul buildings and offices, an artificial intelligence-based architectural design course and career-mentoring sessions for young architects, held jointly with the Young Architects Forum Korea. Registration is available through the city's public reservation website, with details on the festival's website and its Instagram account.

"Architecture is an important cultural asset that shapes citizens' daily lives and the look of the city," Mayor Oh Se-hoon said at Monday's opening ceremony.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.

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