This project presents the vision and trajectory of Busan, which, after being selected as the World Design Capital in July last year, aims to innovate the city through design and transform the lives of its citizens. The initiative will be presented during Milan Design Week, in collaboration with INTERNI, at the University of Milan from April 20 to 30.

Busan’s Vision: “Inclusive City, Engaged Design”
Busan has been selected as World Design Capital 2028 under the theme “Inclusive City, Engaged Design.”

The city’s design philosophy goes beyond policy, rooted deeply in its historical experience and civic spirit. During the Korean War, a city of 300,000 inhabitants welcomed over one million refugees, developing a strong capacity for resilience and solidarity that continues today. This legacy forms the foundation of a citizen-centered design approach, where design serves as a key tool to address urban challenges and improve quality of life.

Through service design initiatives and the Citizen-led Design Lab, Busan has established a system in which citizens actively participate in identifying urban issues and proposing solutions. The designation as World Design Capital is the result of this continuous commitment.

Collaboration with the International Design Studio Migliore+Servetto
Migliore+Servetto is an internationally recognized studio in the field of narrative spatial design, integrating architecture, interior design, urban space, and multimedia. The studio has realized projects for major cultural destinations, including the Egyptian Museum in Turin and the ADI Design Museum in Milan.

With extensive experience working in Asia, the studio excels at interpreting Busan’s urban context and cultural identity through spatial design.

The project “Busan Echoes” was conceived and designed by Migliore+Servetto and realized by the City of Busan. It takes the form of a “polyphonic square”, a space that dynamically interacts with its surroundings, generating multiple layers of narrative and participation.

“A polyphonic platform, like a large wooden tray, unveils the genius loci of Busan. Metallic elements vibrate to the touch, while a landscape of sounds captured from the sea and the winds of the Korean metropolis emerges through Hangul veils, transporting the city’s collective soul.”

The installation is defined by a wooden platform with integrated seating on the sides, developed as a single, barrier-free space. At its center, like flowers in a garden, stand a series of elements in different metallic finishes, which produce sounds generated by interaction with visitors and their movements.

The variety of shapes and sizes produces different tones and frequencies when touched, creating a dynamic acoustic interaction.

An ambient audio system diffuses a soundscape typical of the Korean metropolis: from the pulse of the streets to the blowing of the wind to the echo of the waves of the sea. Above, semitransparent textile veils filter natural light, creating lighting effects that change throughout the day. The veils are decorated with Korean words in the Hangul alphabet, used as graphic signs of identity that construct the space, linking the work to the cultural identity of Busan. A digital level of exploration allows visitors to explore video content dedicated to the South Korean city, completing an immersive and interactive environment.

The installation uses metals—chosen to pay homage to Busan’s industrial heritage—as a tool for vibration, language, and interaction, and design as a tool for connection, embracing the vision that led Busan to become World Design Capital 2028.

Busan Metripolitan City
Located in the southeastern part of South Korea, Busan is the country’s largest maritime city and hosts the world’s second busiest transshipment port. Within a layered urban structure—where sea, mountains, port, and residential areas organically intertwine—the city simultaneously promotes public space innovation, port regeneration, citizen-centered policies, and the growth of local industries and emerging designers.

Today, Busan goes beyond the concept of “visible design,” proposing a new model of urban practice in which design operates in everyday life, connects, and drives transformation. Looking toward 2028, Busan aims to further strengthen the links between local and global dimensions, building on a tradition of resilience and collaboration. Design is thus presented as a fundamental tool for constructing a more interconnected future. The designation as World Design Capital recognizes the city’s ongoing commitment to sustainable urban development and inclusive innovation. At the same time, it provides a global platform to share the role of design as a concrete tool for promoting sustainability and improving quality of life.
www.busan.go.kr/eng

 

Migliore+Servetto
Founded in 1997 by architects Ico Migliore and Mara Servetto, Migliore+Servetto is a Milan-based Italian design firm that has obtained numerous prestigious awards, including 3 Compasso d’Oro ADI Awards, 13 Red Dot Design Awards and 2 German Design Awards. Thanks to young, international, and multidisciplinary team, the Studio boasts undisputed expertise in conceiving narrative spaces – whether public areas, museums, exhibitions, installations, or retail projects – spanning architecture, urban archigraphy, interior design, product design, graphics, and multimedia. Ico Migliore is a Professor at the Politecnico di Milano, Chair Professor at Dongseo University in Busan (South Korea), and member of the Scientific Committee of the Franco Albini Foundation; meanwhile, Mara Servetto has been a Visiting Professor at Joshibi University in Tokyo since 2009. Over time have relied on the Studio realities such as Max Mara, Tod’s Group, B&B Italia, Pedrali, Luceplan, Samsung, Whirlpool, Bombardier, New York Times, Wallpaper*, Intesa Sanpaolo. Interventions for several major international cultural destinations bear the signature of Migliore+Servetto, such as the Natural History Museum in Milan, the Egyptian Museum in Turin, the Chopin Museum in Warsaw, the ADI Design Museum in Milan, and the Schengen Museum in Luxembourg. Their installations include the tricolor light rings on the Mole Antonelliana in Turin for the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification and, in the same city, the dynamic light structure α-cromactive within the Intesa Sanpaolo skyscraper, part of the Luci d’Artista circuit. In terms of urban design, M+S designed the Blue Line Park in Busan, South Korea, and is currently engaged in the construction of the new Joshibi University of Art and Design headquarters in Tokyo, which serves as a new cultural hub for interaction between the university and the city, open to the public. Since 2023 they have served as creative directors for the company NEUTRA, overseeing identity and branding while designing various products such as furniture and lighting. Recently, the Studio designed the interiors for the new headquarters of The Human Safety Net, the Generali Group’s social foundation, within the Procuratie Vecchie in Piazza San Marco, Venice, as well as the new Electa bookshops inside the Colosseum in Rome.