There is now a possibility that the 222-meter-long outer wall of Seoul’s Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) will be filled with work created by citizens’ own hands. For the first time, the world’s largest irregular media facade, long reserved for professional artists and global media creators, will open its doors to AI-generated works by ordinary citizens.
The Seoul Design Foundation announced that it will hold the “Seoul Design AI Video Contest,” inviting citizens to reinterpret K-culture through generative AI technology. The submission deadline is 11:00 a.m. on June 30.
To understand the significance of this contest, it is worth first noting the status of DDP’s media facade. The DDP exterior wall is the world’s largest irregular media facade, stretching 222 meters.
It has won all three of the world’s top design awards—iF, Red Dot, and IDEA—and is also listed in the Guinness World Records under the category of “the world’s largest irregular building 3D mapping display.”
During last year’s “Seoul Light DDP 2025 Winter” event, cumulative attendance reached 1.92 million. On December 31, when the New Year countdown took place, some 87,000 people filled an eight-lane roadway.
The operation is even more demanding. The 45,133 aluminum panels all have different specifications and curvatures. To project video accurately onto the curved exterior wall, 26 projectors and 50 speakers are deployed, and the process involves scanning the entire building in 3D, converting it into flat data, and then applying it again.
Who has filled this stage so far? Works included “Poetry of Time,” which reinterpreted an artwork by Kim Whanki, a master of Korean abstract art, as media art; collaboration pieces featuring characters from global IP companies Kakao and Line Friends; and “Moon Cycle” by German media artist Timo Helgert. In other words, it was a space occupied entirely by proven artists and proven IP.
The “threshold of design” changed as AI did.
The Seoul Design Foundation’s decision is a direct response to the changes brought by generative AI. Until now, it was effectively impossible for ordinary citizens to enter the media art field, as it required specialized skills such as video editing, 3D modeling, and motion graphics.
Generative AI has broken down that barrier to entry. With just a few lines of text, anyone can create video, animate images, and combine music with video.
That is why the foundation’s evaluation criteria are notable. It will look not at technical perfection, but at what the creator imagined and how that idea was expressed artistically. The focus is on citizens’ unique perspective and original interpretation rather than their AI skills.
This is not merely a matter of evaluation criteria; it is an attempt to reexamine the very definition of media art. It raises questions about who is an “artist,” who is the “audience,” and whose canvas the city’s vast surface really is.
The contest themes also reflect this context: “K-culture art realized through AI” and “popular works for Christmas and year-end festivals.” Any video that transforms diverse K-culture content—from Korea’s traditional aesthetics to K-pop, food, and fashion—along with the festive year-end atmosphere through AI can be submitted.
The award package totals 24 million won, with 10 winners or teams receiving the Seoul Design Foundation CEO Award.
The grand prize winner will receive 10 million won and the opportunity to have the work screened on DDP’s exterior wall during the “Seoul Light DDP 2026” event. One runner-up will receive 3 million won and a screening opportunity, three excellence award winners will each receive 2 million won along with screening opportunities, and five encouragement award winners will each receive 1 million won.
The real reward for the winners is not the prize money but exposure. Last year’s countdown event alone drew more than 87,000 people and was livestreamed worldwide via YouTube. Citizen works will be placed on a stage that, during major citywide events, draws more than five times the usual foot traffic to the Dongdaemun area at night.
However, there is also a caveat: if the quality of a work falls below the screening standard, it may be excluded from being shown, and the scale of awards may be adjusted depending on the judging results. In addition to the grand prize, the works winning the excellence and encouragement awards will be introduced through DDP’s indoor and outdoor displays.
The center of gravity in public urban art is shifting.
This contest is difficult to see as just another event. It signals a change in the way cities accept citizens’ creations.
Traditional urban media art flowed from the top down. The government planned it, artists produced it, and citizens watched. This contest reverses that flow. Citizens create, and the city accepts and elevates those works onto its massive exterior wall.
It is also meaningful in terms of spreading K-culture overseas. Until now, the global reach of K-culture has centered largely on professional industries such as K-pop, dramas, and films. If K-culture reinterpreted by citizens using AI is screened on the DDP facade and shown to viewers around the world, it could open another channel for expanding the scope of Korean culture.
“This contest is a festival where citizens’ artistic potential, powered by the wings of AI, unfolds on the giant canvas of DDP,” said Cha Kang-hee, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation. “We look forward to the vivid and shining ideas of citizen creators who will help showcase the appeal of K-culture to the world.”
Details, including submission forms, can be found in the notices on the Seoul Design Foundation and DDP websites.