WDC 2028 Busan Pavilion International Design Competition

Busan Metropolitan City and Design Council Busan invite international designers and creative professionals to participate in the WDC Busan 2028 Pavilion International Design Competition.
As the host city of World Design Capital 2028, Busan aims to create a Pavilion through which residents and visitors can experience the WDC vision and Busan’s design capabilities in everyday urban life. The competition seeks creative ideas for a Fixed Pavilion and a Mobile Pavilion that travels throughout the city, connected through a unified design language, components, user experience, and operating system.
Rather than proposing two separate objects, entrants are asked to envision an Integrated Pavilion System that can adapt and expand across different locations, scales, and programmes. The Pavilion will serve as an open urban design platform supporting information, exhibitions, education, international exchange, citizen participation, performances, and rest.
The competition is an open international two-stage design competition. Stage 1 is an anonymous Concept Proposal competition. Two teams will be selected to advance to Stage 2 Design Development, where they will further develop their integrated design proposals and implementation strategies over approximately four weeks. One Final Winning Team will then be selected.
Eligible entrants are companies, organisations, or sole proprietors active in relevant fields including design, architecture and spatial design, exhibition and environmental design, service and experience design, industry, modular systems, and fabrication. Joint entries are permitted. No entry fee is required.

Stage 1 Submission Period: October 2, 2026, 09:00 – October 26, 2026, 17:00 (KST)
Stage 1 Results: October 29, 2026
Stage 2 Design Development: November 2 – November 29, 2026
Final Results: December 7, 2026

Each of the two teams selected for Stage 2 will receive a Design Development Fee of KRW 20,000,000. The Final Winning Team will undertake a separate Design Refinement assignment and receive a Design Refinement Fee of KRW 50,000,000.

The Jury will consist, as a general rule, of five experts from relevant fields including WDC/international collaboration, design/spatial design, public/urban design, industry/modular systems/fabrication, and service/experience/accessibility. The juror list and key biographies will be published on the official Competition website before the Stage 1 review.