The side event of the Cities exhibition presented two Prize projects and explored different perceptions of public space

As part of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, the Cities Exhibition Roundtable: Public Space as City’s Face, took place on November 2.

The discussion explored how public space influences both the image of a city and the everyday experiences of its inhabitants, through two key case studies from the European Prize for Urban Public Space: Park at the Warsaw Uprising Mound, winner of the 2024 edition, and Boca de la Mina Promenade, in Reus, a finalist in the same year.

Participants in the roundtable included:

• Keehyun Ahn, curator of the Cities exhibition
• Magdalena Wnęk (Toposcape Studio) and Maciej Kaufman (Archigrest), authors of the winning project Park at the Warsaw Uprising Mound
• Roger Mermi, from Batlleiroig Studio, responsible for the finalist project La Boca de la Mina
• Cristina Goberna, Barcelona-based architect and critic

The session was moderated by Seungyeol Lee, researcher at Seoul National University.

Taking advantage of the presence in Seoul of the authors of the winning project Warsaw Uprising Mound Park, academic presentations of the project were also organized for architecture and landscape students at two leading Korean universities: Hangyung University —in an event coordinated by Keehyun Ahn, also a professor at the institution— and Seoul National University, with the participation of professors Kyung-Jin Zoh and Seungyeol Lee.

The presentations helped share the project with students and foster an open exchange between Europe and Korea on the various ways of understanding public space and inhabiting the city.