As the second exhibition in the Graduate School of Design’s New Trajectories series, Convergent Flux: Korea offers an engaging exploration of the innovative architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning and design projects recently emerging from this rapidly transforming nation.

Though South Korea is geographically compact—roughly the size of Maine—and shaped by mountainous terrain and a complex political history, its cultural and economic influence has grown exponentially on the global stage over the past 50 years. Similarly, the global scale has become deeply integrated into the Korean consciousness. However, rather than succumbing to the homogenization of design often criticized in an increasingly interconnected world, Korea has fostered an inspiring synthesis of influences. This synthesis is firmly rooted in the country’s rich historical traditions, its distinctive urban density and infrastructural development, and its design culture’s refined exploration of materiality.

The exhibition captures the hybridized nature of contemporary Korean society, which has become a fertile ground for creative experimentation. What stands out is not only the excellence of individual projects but also the profound significance of the unique context that inspires and shapes such groundbreaking design.