Symbolic design, signage, benches, scent and music unified into a single experience

[Provided by Gangnam-gu]
[Provided by Gangnam-gu]

Gangnam-gu announced Friday that it won the Korea Craft and Design Foundation director's prize at the 2026 Korea Public Design Awards for its "Seonjeongneung Heritage Brand Experience Design" project.

The Korea Public Design Awards is a competition hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea Craft and Design Foundation. It is the country's most prestigious public design competition, recognizing outstanding cases where public design has made everyday spaces more convenient and meaningful.

The project's core concept was to extend the history and natural character of Seonjeongneung — a royal tomb complex nestled among high-rise office buildings — outward along its walking trail and surrounding streets. The district applied a symbolic design identity drawn from the site to street fixtures including signage, benches and lighting, and added scent, music, a walking guide and souvenirs to let visitors experience the cultural heritage in multiple ways.

Judges gave high marks for the consistent application of Seonjeongneung's visual identity across street fixtures and experiential content, which gave the entire space a unified character. The project was also praised for going beyond facility upgrades to transform a historic site into an everyday space where residents can walk, rest and explore.

The symbolic design represents the three royal tombs — those of King Seongjong, Queen Jeonghyeon and King Jungjong — and the layers of history accumulated over centuries, rendered as overlapping curves. Curves inspired by traditional roof tiles and ridge lines, along with the red of the hongsalmun gate, were applied to signage and benches to give the entire trail a cohesive look. Along the 2.1-kilometer historic cultural street, 17 fixtures were installed, including symbolic signs, entrance signage, benches, ground elements and nighttime lighting.

A set of four experiential content elements — scent, sound, walk and object — was also developed to help visitors connect more closely with Seonjeongneung's character. The scent element evokes the forest across the four seasons, while the sound element captures the natural atmosphere of the site through music. The walk element offers an audio guide covering stories of architecture and ecology along the trail, and the object element comprises souvenirs drawing on the stone figures, stone horses and stone sheep of the royal tombs as well as traditional architectural motifs.

"The effort to help residents and visitors feel a closer connection to Seonjeongneung in their daily lives has received strong recognition," Gangnam-gu District Mayor Kim Hyun-ki said. "We will continue to rediscover the value of the historical and cultural resources tucked away throughout Gangnam and create urban spaces where people can find something special in their everyday lives."


cook@heraldcorp.com