[The Hankyoreh]
Seoul’s Seocho District (headed by Mayor Jeon Seong-soo) announced that it received the Presidential Award, the highest honor, at the “2025 Korea Public Design Awards” hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea Craft and Design Foundation.
This win marks the district’s second Presidential Award, following the one for the “Untact Screening Clinic” in 2020, showcasing its leading capabilities in design administration.
The “Korea Public Design Awards” is the most prestigious design award in the country, selecting and awarding exemplary cases of public design to expand the cultural role and awareness of public design and to contribute to the increase of cultural enjoyment rights of citizens. This year’s theme was “Coexistence: Public Design for Tomorrow.”
The award-winning “Open-Form Smoke Ventilation Facility” was highly praised for easing conflicts between smokers and non-smokers, providing a new solution to large-scale street smoking issues on roads like Gangnam-daero. The district established five solutions—regulate, warn, protect, guide, and coexist—to respect smokers’ rights, encourage voluntary restraint, and provide spaces to minimize harm to non-smokers. Its potential for nationwide expansion, acknowledged through public participation assessments and on-site verification, highlighted its excellence.
Additionally, the facility addresses the primary causes of smoking aversion—smoke and odor—by integrating technology and design. It employs air curtains to block the external spread of cigarette smoke and features four patented smoke purification devices that expel purified air. A large-capacity ashtray with automatic extinguishing functionality was also installed to satisfy both smokers’ convenience and environmental improvement.
Through scientific analysis and empirical studies, the district designed the facility to naturally attract users, reducing secondhand smoke exposure and increasing pedestrian satisfaction. It is lauded for proposing a model where smokers and non-smokers can coexist, minimizing the potential negative side effects often associated with strict regulation-centric policies.
Alongside this, the district implemented “nudge design” QR code signposts to smoothly guide smokers from non-smoking to smoking areas, significantly reducing enforcement numbers. These efforts led to awards from the Minister of Health and Welfare and the highest distinction at the Seoul Smoke-Free City Performance Awards.
Jeon Seong-soo, the Mayor of Seocho District, stated, “We have been striving not only to improve the city’s aesthetics through public design but also to resolve social issues. We will continue to enhance the quality of life for our residents and create an environment where everyone can coexist, leading public design in Korea.”
Seoul& Reporting Team Editing