Humanise Wall, The 5th Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism / Image courtesy of Dongkuk Steel Group
Chang Saewook, Vice Chairman of Dongkuk Steel Group (left), Thomas Heatherwick (right) / Image courtesy of Dongkuk Steel Group
Since its founding in 1996 by Songwon Chang Sangtae (the late Chairman of Dongkuk Steel Group), the Songwon Culture Foundation has sought to contribute to our society and future generations by nurturing talented individuals. Chang Sangtae once said that ‘the best fertilizer is the farmer’s footsteps’, expressing his belief that the key to nurturing talented individuals is continuous care and attention. Songwon Culture Foundation’s scholarship project is a testament to this philosophy.
In line with the founder’s philosophy, Chang Saewook (Vice Chairman of Dongkuk Steel Group) who is currently the Director of the Foundation, now seeks to expand the scope of its projects into a new realm where industry and culture intersect. The Songwon Future Architecture Fellowship marks the first milestone in this expansion.Steel is used to form the structure of cities and buildings. When steel goes beyond its role as a mere structural material and asserts its presence in our everyday life, spaces, and the senses, however, it becomes a culture. This is precisely where Dongkuk Steel Group’s long-standing heritage in steel manufacturing and Songwon Culture Foundation’s philosophy of nurturing talents meet.
At the heart of it is Luxteel, Dongkuk CM’s brand of coloured steel sheets for architectural use. Luxteel has consistently demonstrated that steel can serve as a language in architecture and art. The ‘Luxteel Mountain’ at the 2015 Seoul Architecture Festival, the Perpetual Spring outdoor project in collaboration with the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in 2019, and the ‘Humanise Wall’ – the main installation for the 5th Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism in 2025 – are representative examples of an enduring and growing legacy. In particular, the ‘Humanise Wall’ is a project that realised – with Luxteel – a large-scale sculpture conceived by Thomas Heatherwick (Design Director of Heatherwick Studio), the general director of the Biennale. By applying Luxteel to a structure measuring 16m in height, 90m in length, and covering approximately 4,160m2, the project demonstrated that steel can simultaneously embody a structure and surface as well as technological advancement and aesthetics. Moving forward, Songwon Culture Foundation aims to share this accumulated knowledge with future generations. Songwon Future Architecture Fellowship is a programme designed to support aspiring architects to experience world-class architectural sites, document their observations through their own unique perspectives, and transform those experiences into valuable assets for their portfolios. Selected students will spend seven days and six nights exploring major architectural sites in the U.K. and participating in an on-site tour at Heatherwick Studio. This journey will be more than a simple overseas trip; it will be an experience that encourages students to view architecture through a holistic perspective where industry, culture, technology, and the humanities converge.
Beyond financial support, the Songwon Culture Foundation aims to serve as a growth platform where young talent can discover their potential and step forth as future architects. While starting in London, this journey is also set to expand into a long-term programme that fosters creative networks between major architectural cities around the world. Just as steel undergoes heat and pressure to become a structural core, so the young architects of the future will also go through unfamiliar experiences and profound contemplation and come to form their own unique structures. The Songwon Culture Foundation is committed to providing continuous support to these future leaders of Korean architecture as they engage with the wider world, venture into deeper questions, and develop their own robust language.
