Design Miami presents the first previews of the exhibitors taking part in the Seoul fair, which will host the second edition of its main programme, In Situ, and the first edition of its gallery programme, in collaboration with the Seoul Design Foundation. With Hyeyoung Cho returning as curatorial director, the fair will be complemented by Design Talks, VIP experiences, special events and a cultural programme centred on this year’s theme, Resonance, which explores how design conveys memories, knowledge and emotions across time and space. The fair will bring together international galleries and artists at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza from 31 August to 6 September, featuring the second edition of In Situ and a programme centred on Resonance. Design Miami Seoul 2026 will take place at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), designed by Zaha Hadid, and organised in collaboration with the Seoul Design Foundation and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The fair will run from 31 August to 6 September, with a VIP pre-opening day on 31 August.
“Our first edition in Seoul exceeded all expectations, and we are returning this September with real momentum, moving to the Design Lab 1F at the DDP to accommodate the scale this community has now reached. This year’s curatorial theme, ‘Resonance’, reflects the depth of the connections we have seen take root here, between our galleries, partners and the In Situ programme. We are grateful to the Seoul Design Foundation and the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, and we look forward to welcoming the world to Design Miami Seoul.” – Jen Roberts, CEO of Design Miami.
“Seoul is establishing itself as a city that brings together new trends, markets and discourses surrounding design. The DDP and Seoul are becoming a global hub for collectable design, attracting designers, galleries and collectors from all over the world.” – Kang Heui Cha, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation.
The call for entries will bring together six international galleries as part of its new gallery programme, featuring proposals that explore historical and contemporary collectable design and focus on the relationship between materials, memory, craftsmanship and new forms of production.
Among them, the Charles Burnand Gallery in London will present Material Echoes, a group exhibition featuring artists from Korea, China, Europe and the United States who work with materials such as bronze, copper, carved wood and ceramics. The exhibition explores the capacity of materials to preserve memory, knowledge and cultural significance, in direct dialogue with this year’s curatorial concept.
From New York, Vagujhelyi will bring the ‘Postura’ collection to Seoul, comprising sculptural furniture hand-cast in bronze. Pieces such as the ‘Orthos Throne’ and the ‘Rhakis Chair’ explore the relationship between the body, matter and form, placing furniture in a realm shared with sculpture.
Spain will be represented by SIDE GALLERY, from Barcelona, which will present the work of Gyuhan Lee. The artist transforms the iconography of recognisable brands into light sculptures and draws inspiration from the visual textures of the urban environment. In Seoul Signs – Itaewon, he layers paper to reconstruct the signs and graphic elements of a street corner in the South Korean capital.
The programme also features proposals centred on the domestic space. STACK by studio MOTO, based in Ghent, will present a modular system made from folded aluminium components that connect without screws. Conceived as an adaptable structure, it can be expanded, reduced or reconfigured according to needs, and approaches furniture as a form of architecture that can be explored. Meanwhile, IN GALLERY, from Seoul, will showcase contemporary Korean design, featuring pieces such as Crystal Series: Console Table 02, by Saerom Yoon, made from acrylic.
In Situ: tradition, materials and new techniques
Alongside the gallery programme, Design Miami In Situ returns for the second year as a platform for Korean and regional design. The selection brings together emerging and established voices from fields such as lighting, furniture, ceramics and sculptural design.
Lighting will be represented by pieces such as ‘Nodus’ by Il Hoon Roh, crafted from carbon fibre, optical fibre, LEDs and aluminium; Jungmo Kwon’s reinterpretation of the traditional hanok window; and Woorim Kang’s cherry wood floor lamp. Meanwhile, designers such as Hwan Tae Kim, Byungsub Kim, Hyunhee Kim and Sangwoo Koo will translate references to heritage and memory into the language of contemporary furniture design.
The dialogue between tradition and technology will continue with Yuki Nara, a Japanese architect and ceramist from the Ohi family, who will present Bone Flower/Yayoi 08, a piece that combines traditional ceramics with digital design. Also taking part will be Roham Shamekh and NICEWORKSHOP with Ovo Man Seashell Bench, made from aluminium and seashells, and LEJE with ME-IN, a 3D-printed piece finished by hand with mother-of-pearl inlays and natural lacquer, a process requiring over 300 hours of craftsmanship.
Design Miami Seoul will also welcome five finalists from the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2026: Coco Sung, Jieun Park, Jongin Lee, Somyeong Lee and Soohyun Cho. Their works range from jewellery and metalwork to sculptural furniture.
Design, brands and contemporary culture
The programme will extend beyond the exhibition space. On 3 September, ‘Resonance: Design in Dialogue’ will take place – a day of Design Talks focusing on the role of design in relation to matter, memory and society. The programme, sponsored by LIVINGSENSE, will be organised around three discussions: ‘Design and the Marketplace’, ‘The Language of Creativity’ and ‘Design and Expansion in the Digital Era’.
The 2026 edition also welcomes Samsung Electronics and Alloso as main partners. Samsung will develop a collaboration combining original works by Korean artists with frames created for its S95H OLED television, whilst Alloso will present ‘Layers of Resonance’, an installation in which various creators will reinterpret several of its furniture collections. Additional partners include Dansk, Teo Yang Studio, LIVINGSENSE, Ayantu, the Loewe Foundation and Range Rover.
The event will take place at the Design Lab 1F in the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, one of the buildings linked to Seoul’s transformation into an international design hub. “Seoul is establishing itself as a city that brings together new trends, markets and discourses surrounding design. The DDP and Seoul are becoming a global hub for collectable design, attracting designers, galleries and collectors from all over the world,” says Kang Heui Cha, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation.
Following the VIP day on 31 August, Design Miami Seoul 2026 will open to the public from 1 to 6 September, consolidating the international platform’s presence in Asia and its commitment to a format in which collectable design, craftsmanship, technology and contemporary culture share the same space.
