International Design Competition Results Announced with World-Class Architects

Hongik University is developing a short- and long-term development plan to meet the needs of the times and trends in the educational environment, and is making innovative changes to its campus. Based on the founding philosophy of "industry meets art", the university has been leading the development of culture and art in Korea for the past 70 years, transforming a vast area of western Seoul into a symbolic spot for creative culture and art, known as "Hongdae". In response to the challenges of the role of universities in the development of cities and the rapidly changing educational environment, Hongik University is planning an Innovation Growth Campus that will break down the boundaries between cities and universities and share innovations in culture and technology with citizens for their enjoyment.

The Innovation Growth Campus is a development plan for a new 4.2-pyeong innovative growth area on Hongik University's Seoul campus that will include an art museum, art library, and performance space that symbolize the history of Hongik Art, as well as a high-tech engineering center and makerspace. The new space will be an innovative campus that blurs the boundaries between university and city, university and industry, with organic connections to the existing campus, both underground and above ground.

In the meantime, Hongik University held an international design competition, inviting renowned architects who are leading the architectural culture of the current era. SANAA (Japan), David Chipperfield (UK), OMA (Netherlands), Renzo piano (Italy), and Herzog &de Muron (Switzerland) are all Pritzker Prize-winning international architects. In addition, a jury consisting of Pritzker Prize winner Toyo Ito (Japan), Harvard University President Sarah Whiting, ETH Zurich Dean Emanuel Christ, and professors Daniel Valle, John Hong, and Mi-Sun Kang, among others, was assembled to ensure impartiality, and in October, OMA's plan led by Rem Koolhaas (1944-) was selected.

Toyo Ito (Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects, Chair of Jury) and Sarah Whiting (Harvard University), who served on the jury, said that while the other proposals sought to create a single center, the winning proposal was brilliant and novel in that it offered something consistent and inherently unifying with the existing campus. They added that they believe the proposal, if realized, would be one of the few that would be highly regarded on a global university campus.

He also praised the New Hongik project as a truly unimaginable competition that brought together five of the world's most active architects, and expressed his gratitude and admiration to Hongik University for truly investing in design and using it to provide a context for students to create a better future, saying that it shows a belief in what a university should be. 

The Innovation and Growth Campus will next undergo preliminary and detailed design and is expected to break ground in the first half of 2026.

Online Communication, Heejin Kim