The 4th ‘Korea+Sweden Young Design Award’ opens

[Seoul – December 16] The 4th ’Korea+Sweden Young Design Award,’ jointly organized by IKEA Korea, the Embassy of Sweden in Seoul, and the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP), will be held to discover and develop young Korean designers. 

The Korea+Sweden Young Design Award was created to encourage exchanges in design between Korea and Sweden and increase interest in the field of design. Since 2019, which marked the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Sweden, the three partners have held competitions based on the three core values of ’innovation,’ ’sustainability’ and ’better future,’ taking the lead in discovering and developing designers in Korea.  

The theme of this year’s contest is ’Sustainable and Enjoyable,’ which means exploring sustainable design in an enjoyable way. Any Korean adult aged 34 and under (as of December 19) can participate and submit designs in all fields except food and music. Applications for the Korea+Swedish Young Design Award will be available on the official website (www.ksyda.com) from January 2 to March 31.  

The submitted works are judged by a 10-person committee, including Korean and Swedish design experts and opinion leaders, based on creativity, aesthetics, topical relevance, and influence. 20 initial winners will be provided with an exhibition opportunity, and the final three winners will be awarded various benefits such as a design tour to Sweden.

Prior to this contest on the 15th, IKEA Korea, the Embassy of Sweden in Seoul, and the Korea Institute of Design Promotion signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for contest operation and design exchange. Through this MoU, the three partners plan to make efforts to raise awareness and expand participation in the contest with promotion activities and strengthen networks between Korea and Sweden through design talks and seminars.  

Fredrik Johansson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IKEA Korea, said, “IKEA is cooperating with the ‘Korea+Sweden Young Design Award’ based on our belief in the power of design to create a better life for the many. I hope that young designers in Korea will be inspired by sustainable design and grow into designers who can create a better future.”

Daniel Wolvén, Ambassador of Sweden to the Republic of Korea, said, ”Both Sweden and South Korea are prominent manufacturing nations, and we always strive to create innovative and beautiful designs for our products” and continued “With the Korea Sweden Young Design Award we want to encourage the meeting of Swedish and Korean ideas on design. Last year the great works by young Korean designers gave many innovative examples of how to integrate sustainability with product design. I very much look forward to seeing the submissions for next year’s award.”

Yoon Sang Heum, President of the Korea Institute of Design Promotion, stated, ”Based on our business agreement, the Korea+Sweden Young Design Award is expected to establish itself as a historic contest for discovering talented Korean designers and strengthen cooperation and exchanges in design between the two countries.”