18th Seoul Architecture Festival

The 18th Seoul Architecture Festival will be held from September 15 to October 11, 2026, at the Seoul Urban Architecture Exhibition Hall, 119 Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul. Admission fees for the main event and charges for paid programs have not yet been announced, and it has not been confirmed whether advance reservations will be required for the event as a whole. The 18th edition will run from September 15 to October 11, 2026. It is safest to say only that the duration and main venue differ from those of the 17th edition in 2025. This year's theme is “Assembling Seoul: Discovering Seoul,” and the program is scheduled to include an exhibition of completed works in the 44th Seoul Metropolitan Architecture Awards, an architecture and culture forum, open classes, and a growth-support program for young aspiring architects.

The 18th edition, moved from Bukchon Cultural Center in 2025 to 119 Sejong-daero in 2026

The official venue for the 18th Seoul Architecture Festival in 2026 is 119 Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul. Since the 17th edition in 2025 was held at Bukchon Cultural Center for 13 days, from September 9 to 21, it is accurate to say only that this year's duration and venue arrangement are different.

The theme also changed from “Seoulness: A Multi-Layered City” in 2025 to “Assembling Seoul: Discovering Seoul” in 2026. In 2025, a special exhibition of winning works from the 43rd Seoul Metropolitan Architecture Awards was held, while this year an exhibition of winning works from the 44th Seoul Metropolitan Architecture Awards is presented as a major program.

The Seoul Architecture Festival began in 2009 and reaches its 18th edition in 2026. Since 2010, it has expanded into an event that includes citizen-participation programs. The 2026 festival director is architect Kook Hyung-gul, a professor in the Department of Architecture at Ewha Womans University and a U.S.-licensed architect.

Attendance varies considerably by edition. Official tables record 12,612 visitors in 2025, 36,635 in 2024, and 91,674 in 2023, but the 2026 attendance figure remains “-,” so there is not yet a basis for numerically predicting this year's crowd levels. The fact that the 2022 edition was held for 12 days at the Seoul Urban Architecture Exhibition Hall and Seoul City Hall Plaza can also be viewed as an earlier example of venue expansion.

Getting around central Seoul to reach 119 Sejong-daero

The venue address is 119 Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul, and the main venue listed in the official 2026 table is also the Seoul Urban Architecture Exhibition Hall. In map apps, it is easier to verify the destination on site by entering “Seoul Urban Architecture Exhibition Hall” and “119 Sejong-daero” exactly as written rather than using translated place names.

The nearest station and exit, bus routes, and walking time from the station to the venue for entering the main event have not been confirmed in this guide. Temporary shuttle service and the location and fees of venue parking have also not been announced, so it is still difficult to plan public-transit or car travel numerically.

Operating hours by date, admission and exit cutoff times, and last-train information for the main event in 2026 have not been announced either. Therefore, whether a same-day trip is possible should currently be treated as undetermined. If you plan to attend a late talk or forum, it is safest to decide whether to stay overnight after the detailed schedule and return transportation information are released.

For reference, the 17th-edition exhibition at Bukchon Cultural Center in 2025 operated from 09:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, until 20:00 on Wednesdays, and from 09:00 to 17:00 on weekends. These hours are records from the 2025 edition and must not be applied as the 2026 operating hours of the Seoul Urban Architecture Exhibition Hall.

Viewing scope illustrated by the 44th Seoul Metropolitan Architecture Awards and UAUS teams from 25 universities

The completed-works category of the 44th Seoul Metropolitan Architecture Awards is structured to present one Grand Prize, two Best Awards, four Excellence Awards, and approximately three Emerging Architect Awards. The Grand Prize in the completed-works category was open to buildings located in Seoul that received approval for use from January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2025, so the exhibition is designed to showcase recent examples of Seoul architecture from the past five years.

The key names to look for on site are the Architecture and Culture Forum, Open Classes, the 44th Seoul Metropolitan Architecture Awards Winners’ Talk, and Works Tours with the Winners. A growth-support program for young aspiring architects is also included, so the experience differs depending on whether you visit simply to see the exhibition or time your visit around lectures and participatory programs.

The 2026 architecture awards competition ran from May 7 to June 5, and submissions for the completed-works category were accepted daily from 10:00 to 17:00 on June 4 and 5. The student ideas category accepted submissions by email until 24:00 on June 5. Judging was scheduled from June through July, with individual notification of winning works scheduled for July.

The advance program, Seoul Urban Architecture Lectures, was scheduled to operate at the Seoul Urban Architecture Center from May through August 2026. Applications were accepted monthly through the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s public reservation service beginning April 22. This was an application for advance lectures separate from reservations for the main event, so the two should not be considered the same reservation.

The 15th UAUS Pavilion Special Exhibition in 2026 was a Seoul Architecture Festival-affiliated event involving teams from 25 universities nationwide.

Four things to confirm before departing for the 18th edition in 2026

First, the official 2026 table displays attendance as “-,” so this year's visitor count cannot be estimated in the same way as the 12,612 visitors recorded in 2025. Second, operating, cancellation, and refund policies in the event of rain have not been announced, so if outdoor affiliated activities are included, it is difficult to determine whether they will operate based on the rain forecast alone.

Third, accessibility for wheelchairs and strollers, as well as the locations of restrooms, storage facilities, and rest areas, has not been confirmed. Travelers using mobility aids or traveling with children may find it difficult to plan routes inside and outside the exhibition hall without first checking facility information.

Fourth, the availability of English signs, English leaflets, interpretation, and multilingual audio guides has not been announced. For lecture-based programs such as the Architecture and Culture Forum, Open Classes, and the Winners’ Talk, it is best to confirm whether Korean-language comprehension is required before choosing a session. Travelers who prefer to quietly view the exhibition may find lecture-focused time slots unsuitable.

Food stalls, cash-only locations, and whether card or mobile payments are accepted have also not been confirmed. Travelers who plan to eat or pay inside the venue, or who may have difficulty returning late, should confirm the daily times, reservations, foreign-language assistance, and accessibility with the event office at 02-322-5670 or the responsible department at 02-2133-7627 after the detailed schedule is announced, then finalize their plans.

• What is the biggest difference between the 2026 event and 2025? — It changes from 13 days at Bukchon Cultural Center in 2025 to 27 days centered on the Seoul Urban Architecture Exhibition Hall in 2026.
• Which exhibitions and schedules are connected to the 44th Seoul Metropolitan Architecture Awards? — An exhibition of completed-works winners, a winners’ talk, and works tours are scheduled, while competition judging was scheduled for June–July 2026.
• Can I see the UAUS Pavilion during the 18th-edition event period? — The affiliated exhibition in 2026 was held earlier, from August 18 to 28, at the Playground at Gwanghwamun Square, and admission was free.
• Do I need to reserve the entire main event in advance? — Some advance lectures accepted monthly applications through the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s public reservation service beginning April 22, but whether advance reservations are required for the main event as a whole has not yet been confirmed.