Busan Workation Center Recognized for its Private-Public Cooperative Global Design!
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Busan Workation Center Recognized for its Private-Public Cooperative Global Design!
□ The city of Busan announces that the “Busan Workation Center” has been chosen for the German 「iF Design Award 2024」in the Main Interior Design category (office space).
○ The 「iF Design Award」, which is based in Hanover, Germany, is the most prestigious international design award organized by the “iF International Forum Design,” an independent design organization that boasts a long history. It is one of the world’s top three design awards, along with the German Red Dot Design Award and the US IDEA.
○ About 11,000 entries from 72 countries competed for this award in nine categories, including: ▲products ▲packages ▲communication ▲concept ▲interior ▲architecture ▲service design ▲user experience (UX) and ▲user interface (UI). Winners were selected by a 132-member judging committee consisting of experts from each country.
□ The “Busan Workation Center (24th floor, ASTI Hotel, Dong-gu)” is the essential work space of the Busan-specific ‘Workation Revitalization Project’ as chosen by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Local Extinction Response Fund Project. The Center features ▲open views ▲independent work spaces ▲phone booths ▲conference rooms ▲an event lounge, and ▲a mini bar.
○ The city sought advice from global conglomerates with extensive Workation experience, such as Google and Naver, and conducted consumer research before proceeding with the construction of the user-focused, differentiated work space infrastructure.
○ The ‘Busan-specific Workation Revitalization Project’ began operations in earnest in April of last year following its opening and subsequent system maintenance in February. Users exceeded 1,200 people in less than a year as the project’s focus on the center went viral. The majority of users include ICT industry experts in their 20s and 30s belonging to companies mostly based in the capital area. There has been a constant stream of inquires about the establishment of a Busan branch.
□ The award organizers, iF International Forum Design, asserted that the Busan Workation Center comprises spaces for users to recharge as well as increase their work efficiency thanks to the efficient interior workspace arrangement and the open sea view”.
○ High praise was also given by the award organizers for the “publicity generated by constructing and operating the Center to attract the local population and tackle population decline and as a way to fight population extinction.”
○ The concept of ‘Workation’ is expected to become a new frontier in working trends that aims to balance work and leisure and serve as an attractive lifestyle for a highly mobile population.
□ Mayor Park Heong-joon, who gave special attention to the composition of the workspace and the selection of its location, said, “This selection is a meaningful award as Busan can be recognized as a ‘Workation City’ and enhance the city’s brand image to create value.” He also added, “As the public’s role in shaping the city’s landscape is becoming increasingly important these days, our city is building a more diversified Busan by taking into account space planning that falls in line with policy implementation and broadening its cooperation with the private sector to harness and utilize creativity and imagination. The ‘Busan Workation Center’ is our signature space representing this.”
○ HADE Architects (CEO Kim Seokhun) are in charge of the center’s space planning and design. Architect and Professor Jeong Seul-a also commented, “We earned valuable experience by contributing to revitalizing the area with a shrinking population by actively attracting the local population and creating Busan’s brand as a business-friendly city.”
□ Further, Mayor Park noted, “By winning this international design award and thereby enhancing strategic global promotion marketing, the city will do its best to respond to the increasing demand for workation centers and attract core domestic and foreign companies through its branding as a city worthy of being called a global ‘Workation City.”
