Seoul Architecture Festival Is On Now — Free Exhibitions, Architect Talks and Building Tours This Week
LIVING INDEX · SEOUL / ARCHITECTURE / THIS WEEK
Seoul’s largest architecture festival is now open in the city center, and its first public programme weekend starts immediately. The 18th Seoul Architecture Festival runs through October 11 at the Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture, with free exhibitions plus architect talks, award-winning building tours and open-office visits.
The exhibition itself has a long run, but the timing matters now: an open class with Seoul Architecture Award winners takes place September 18, followed by an architecture culture forum on September 19. Some programme seats use Seoul’s public reservation system, so this is the useful moment to plan rather than wait until later in the month.
Dates: Sept. 15–Oct. 11, 2026
Venue: Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture · 119 Sejong-daero
Exhibition: 10:00–18:00 · free
Nearest stations: City Hall Station / Gwanghwamun Station
Sept. 18: Seoul Architecture Award open class · 17:00
Sept. 19: Architecture culture forum · 15:00
What is the festival showing?
The 2026 theme is Assembling Seoul: Discovering Seoul. The festival reads the city through three ideas — hybrid density, rapid evolution and glocality — asking how different histories, places, cultures and people continue to assemble contemporary Seoul.
The main exhibition by director Kook Hyung-gul and photographer Shin Kyung-sub uses a maze-like structure built from reused pallets to frame photographs of Seoul’s urban landscape. The same venue also presents the 44th Seoul Architecture Awards, including the grand-prize Seosoul Museum of Art by The System Lab, plus student work, UAUS pavilion projects and an architecture book exhibition.
Why this week is more useful than a later visit
On September 18, award-winning architects discuss the design process behind selected projects in an open class. The following afternoon brings the festival’s architecture culture forum. Later programmes move beyond the exhibition hall into Seoul itself through award-building tours and visits to architects’ offices.
Admission — the main exhibition is free.
Booking — selected talks, tours and open-office sessions use Seoul Public Service Reservation; check availability before travel.
Language — exhibitions are visually accessible, but detailed talks and tours may be Korean-first.
Location — the venue is beside Seoul City Hall, making it easy to combine with Deoksugung, Jeongdong and central-Seoul architecture.
Best reason to go — this is not only an exhibition; the programme lets you connect award drawings and photographs to real buildings across the city.
Why it is worth seeing now
For international visitors interested in Korean design, the festival offers a useful alternative to temporary retail pop-ups. It shows how Seoul explains itself through architecture: current award winners, changing urban conditions, young architects and actual buildings are presented as one connected programme.
The exhibition remains open into October, but the first architect-led sessions begin September 18–19. If architecture is part of your Seoul trip this week, check the programme now and use the City Hall exhibition as the starting point.
Official and reference links
- Seoul Architecture Festival — official site
- Seoul Public Service Reservation — programme booking
- The Korea Times — English festival overview
Information checked Sept. 17, 2026 KST against current Seoul festival information and recent coverage. Programme capacity and tour availability can change; verify the official reservation page before visiting.
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