(From the left) Lee Suk-woo, Park Sung-chul, Ling-Li Tseng and Keng-Ming Liu

　

The Golden Pin Design Award’s Design Perspectives × Golden Pin Salon officially launches its 2026 Asia Tour with its first-ever stop in Seoul on April 25. Co-organized with Korea’s leading design media—the monthly magazine Design, the event brings together prominent designers from Taiwan and Korea for a dynamic exchange on contemporary design thinking.

The Seoul Salon will feature speakers from Taiwan, including Keng-Ming Liu, Creative Director of Bito and director for the TECH WORLD Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, and Ling-Li Tseng, curator of the Taiwan Pavilion at the 2023 London Design Biennale. Joining from Korea are Lee Suk-woo, designer of the medals for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and Park Sung-chul, CEO of NiiiZ Design Lab, known for his work with brands such as SM Entertainment and Baskin-Robbins. Together, the speakers offer diverse perspectives across product, spatial, and cross-media design.

　

Golden Pin Salon: A Platform for Cross-Cultural Design Dialogue

Established in 1981, Taiwan’s Golden Pin Design Award has grown into one of Asia’s leading design awards since opening to global entries in 2014. Beyond recognizing outstanding design, the organizer Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI) continues to evolve the award into a multifaceted platform that fosters connections between designers and industry through exhibitions, curated matchmaking programs, and international exchange initiatives.

The Golden Pin Salon is part of this ongoing initiative. Centered on design perspectives and cultural exchange, the Salon travels across various Asian cities each year, inviting award winners, jurors, and local professionals to share insights and practices. It has garnered an enthusiastic response in cities such as Taipei, Chengdu, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok. This year, the Seoul event marks a new chapter, expanding opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue in Korea.

　

Ultra-Experience: Designing the Spectacle

In collaboration with the monthly magazine Design, this year’s Golden Pin Salon in Seoul will take place on April 25 at the DDP Design Hall, with the theme “Ultra-Experience Design.”

In today’s world, marked by spectacle, people are drawn to fast and intense experiences—and design is no exception. As visual, space, and digital media become increasingly intertwined, the question arises: how can design respond to this trend, and what essential values must not be overlooked? These questions form a key focus of this year’s salon. Four designers from Korea and Taiwan are invited to deliver in-depth presentations, drawing on their practices and experiences to date.

　

Speakers from Korea

Lee Suk-woo, founder of SWNA and Liberal Office, is recognized for his multidisciplinary approach to industrial design. He received the 2018 Korea Design Award and the 2019 Young Artist of the Year Award, both presented by the Korean government. He has taught at Hongik University, the Korea National University of Arts, and the Samsung Design Membership, and has served as a juror for design awards including Braun, Dyson, Lexus, Jaguar, and the iF award. His designs are part of the permanent collections at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea; the Swiss Olympic Museum; and the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK.

In his talk, Lee will explore the theme of “Paradoxical Koreanness,” using his own studio SWNA as a case study to examine how the uniquely Korean attitude of paradox and contradiction has shaped the distinctive DNA of contemporary Korean design. Selected projects include the work “The Drop Tray” presented at an exhibition in Korea commemorating Fritz Hansen’s 150th anniversary and the footwear design collaborations with Pro-Specs.

　

SWNA's work - Drop Tray for Fritz Hansen 150th Anniversary Exhibition.

SWNA's work - Pro-Specs SWNA SEAM 26

　

Park Sung-chul, CEO of the spatial design studio NiiiZ Design LAB, will present a talk titled “The Current Discourse on Korean Spatial Design.” As the world’s attention turns to Korea and the discourse on Korean identity resurfaces, he discusses Korean identity as seen through the eyes of an outsider and the true essence of Korean identity that must be preserved.

Using “the essence of difference” as a key concept, he pursues spatial diversity through distinctive concepts and experimental design, spanning commercial spaces and exhibitions for both local and international brands. Through case studies such as the Pan Am Seongsu flagship store—where industrial heritage is preserved and reimagined—and SM Entertainment’s immersive flagship space Kwangya@Seoul, Park intends to demonstrate how spatial design can blur the boundaries between reality and imagination.

　

NIIIZ Design LAB's work - Pan Am Seongsu Flagship Store.

NiiiZ Design LAB's work - Kwangya@Seoul.

　

Speakers from Taiwan

Ling-Li Tseng, co-founder of Serendipity Studio—which won the Best Design Medal at the 2023 London Design Biennale as well as the Best Design of the Year at Golden Pin Design Award—will share the journey of creating immersive experiences that evoke culture, using space and materials as key mediums, under the theme “Materializing Culture—Translating Sensory Landscapes into Immersive Spatial Experiences.” Their spatial and exhibition designs, which reflect both technology and philosophy, will offer unique insights to Salon participants.

Holding master’s degrees in architecture and design & technology from Cooper Union and Harvard University, and with prior experience at Heatherwick Studio in London, Tseng has developed a practice that bridges architecture, material experimentation, and curatorial thinking. Currently serving as an associate professor at the Graduate School of Architecture at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, she continues to explore the relationships between art and science, as well as imagination and reality.

　

Serendipity Studio's work - The Taiwan Pavilion, “Visible Shop – Parts without Cover,” presented at the 2023 London Design Biennale.

Serendipity Studio's work - The exhibition "The Tales from Where the Land Emerged," presented during 2021 Creative Expo Taiwan.

　

Also featured is Keng-Ming Liu, founder and Creative Director of Bito, a cross-media design studio known for its transmedia design that bridges dynamic branding with immersive experiences. The studio has worked on projects such as the production of the TECH WORLD Pavilion for the 2025 Osaka Expo and the rebranding of Taiwan’s tourism identity “TAIWAN – Waves of Wonder.” Additionally, Liu served as the art director for the Golden Horse Award—considered the most prestigious film award in the Chinese-speaking world—where he oversaw the identity system and cinematic branding. Bito’s work has received numerous international accolades, and in 2024, he was honored with Taiwan’s Presidential Innovation Award.

In his talk, “From Motion to Immersion: Designing Experiences That Move People,” Liu will explore how motion-based design can evolve into immersive environments, shaping emotionally resonant experiences across media and contexts.

　　

Bito's work - The production of the TECH WORLD Pavilion for the 2025 Osaka Expo.

Bito's work - The rebranding of Taiwan’s tourism identity.

Bito's work - The 60th Golden Horse Awards Branding.

　

Event Information

The 2026 Golden Pin Salon in Seoul will take place on April 25 at 14:00 (GMT+9) at the Design Hall of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). In-person attendance registration is available via: https://smartstore.naver.com/designhouseshop/products/13277928409

The event will also be livestreamed on the official Golden Pin Design Award YouTube channel, welcoming global audiences to participate online. Further updates can be found on the award’s official social media accounts.

　

Call for Entries: 2026 Golden Pin Design Award

Entries are now open for the 2026 Golden Pin Design Award as well as the Golden Pin Concept Design Award. Open to designers, brands, and interdisciplinary teams worldwide, the awards span four main categories: Product Design, Communication Design, Spatial Design, and Integration Design.

Winners will gain access to Golden Pin’s diverse international exposure opportunities, industry connections, new market opportunities, and possibly more. The final deadline is June 15, 2026 (17:00, GMT+8) this year. Applicants who complete payment by May 13, 2026, at 17:00 (GMT+8) will qualify for the early bird discount and may continue refining their submission materials until the final deadline. For full details and registration, visit: https://goldenpin.org.tw/goldenpin/en