Design Miami’s Seoul Debut Bridges Craft Heritage and Global Innovation 

When Design Miami launched its first fair in 2005, architect Zaha Hadid received the inaugural Designer of the Year award. Two decades later, the global platform for collectible design has made its hotly anticipated South Korea debut at one of the late Pritzker Prize laureate’s most iconic buildings: the sinuous Dongdaemun Design Plaza, a cultural landmark in the heart of Seoul. Running through September 14, the exhibition marks the first multi-day event under the fair’s In Situ initiative, which debuted with a one-day-only showcase during Aspen Art Week over the summer and spotlights regional design traditions within a global framework.  

The show, called “Illuminated: A Spotlight on Korean Design” and presented in collaboration with the Seoul Design Foundation, brings together more than 170 works that chart the evolution of Korea’s richly layered design culture, from historical craft techniques to material-forward experimentation. “[It] comes at the perfect moment,” says curator Hyeyoung Cho, who also serves as chairperson of the Korea Association of Art & Design. “Korean culture—spanning music, food, art, design, and craft—is thriving as a global trendsetter. The exhibition will spotlight the trailblazing designers who have opened global doors for the next generation while embracing the idea that today, we are all global citizens.”  

At its core, “Illuminated” underscores how Korean design seamlessly bridges the traditional and the contemporary—a sensibility rooted in Confucian values and respect for intergenerational exchange. Leather weaver Dahyeon Yoo, for example, adapts Joseon-era rice-straw techniques into symmetrical cases. Dongjun Kim’s simplistic vessels achieve their bumpy textures by firing white porcelain in kilns using timber he sources during the winter—another slow craft technique from the Joseon dynasty. Among the works presented by legendary designer Byung Hoon Choi is an eye-catching chair whose disparate elements—a sleek wooden seat precariously balanced atop a chunk of ancient stone—finds stillness and harmony in otherwise jarring contrasts. 

Material play and conceptual experimentation courses throughout. Hakmin Lee melds sand-cast aluminum into a whimsical bench whose chubby legs are affixed with oversized zoomorphic paws. Jongjin Park layers porcelain slip over everyday paper towels to form striated millefeuille vessels with spectacularly vivid and surprising textures, a technique he developed based on experience with the centuries-old Moonjar craft. Minjae Kim offers a trio of furnishings conceived for an artist’s retreat—a silk mattress raised on stilts, a ruffled velvet director’s chair, and a fiberglass lantern rendered as architectural diptych—that together fuse Korean craft, Lynchian psychodrama, and European typologies into a surreal domestic landscape.  

Sustainability and preservation are also key themes, reflected in practices that prioritize resourcefulness and deep engagement with natural materials. Dahye Jeong revives traditional Korean millinery techniques by hand-weaving black horsehair into basket forms nearly half a meter wide. Jungin Lee envelops salvaged wooden chair frames in layers as a contemporary adaptation of the age-old technique of pasting hanji—a breathable mulberry paper historically used in Korean homes—onto lattice windows. Gyuhan Lee, meanwhile, reworks discarded McDonald’s and Nike packaging into handwoven furniture. 

“Seoul is home to many celebrated and emerging designers who have been so integral to the evolution and expansion of this market,” says Jen Roberts, CEO of Design Miami. “We look forward to igniting a cultural exchange between local and international design communities in this vibrant and multifaceted city that so powerfully embodies design.” 

Design Miami.In Situ and “Illuminated: A Spotlight on Korean Design” will be on view at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (281 Eulji-ro, Jung District, Seoul) until September 14.