Seoul, South Korea

2025 Seocho AI·Robot Public Service Competition

Dates
13
-
October 18, 2025 2:00
Location
Seocho Culture and Arts Park
Duration
4 months
Participants
None
Price
Free
Format
Hybrid
Hosts
Gaudi Foundation | Seocho District | Hyundai Robotics | Sunshin Women's University
The challenge
Design a robotic or AI-powered public service for Seocho Culture and Arts Park that reconnects people with nature, culture, and community.

Proven where
it matters

6 → 8.5
Average rise in participants' self-rated originality, in a single session
90%+
of participants rate the experience meaningful or very meaningful
4.5 / 5
average meaningfulness rating across cohorts
100+
challenges reframed in past sessions
FAQ

Design a robotic or AI-powered public service for Seocho Culture and Arts Park that reconnects people with nature, culture, and community.

The 2025 Seocho AI·Robot Public Service Competition, co-hosted by Seocho District, Hyundai Robotics, and the Gaudí Foundation, invites university teams in Korea to create innovative, Gaudí-inspired public service concepts that blend art, nature, and robotics to redefine how technology serves humanity.
Dates
13
-
October 18, 2025 2:00
Location
Seocho Culture and Arts Park
Duration
4 months
Price
Free
Format
Hybrid
Download brochure
Learn more
Experience Description

A forward-looking design competition at the intersection of nature, robotics, and public life.
Co-hosted by Seocho District, Hyundai–Kia Robotics Lab, and the Gaudí Foundation, the 2025 Seocho AI·Robot Public Service Competition invites creative minds to imagine public services that bring warmth, beauty, and humanity back into the heart of urban life.
Inspired by Gaudí’s nature-based philosophy and powered by robotics and AI, participants will design proposals for the Seocho Culture and Arts Park—a living lab where technology coexists with nature, art, and people.

‍

How It Works

University teams of 5–10 participants develop original AI or robotics concepts that reimagine public service in Seoul’s Seocho District.

From July to October 2025, participants engage in a creative journey:

  • July–September: Submit your proposal online and attend three preparatory webinars with experts from the Gaudí Foundation and Hyundai Robotics.
  • October: Selected teams refine and visualize their ideas for the final presentation day at the Seocho Culture and Arts Park.

Each project explores how robots can become social sculptures—functional, aesthetic, and emotionally resonant.

Benefits
  • Gain real-world experience working on an urban innovation challenge.
  • Learn to design with AI and robotics through a Gaudí-inspired humanistic approach.
  • Collaborate with experts from the Gaudí Foundation and Hyundai Robotics.
  • Compete for prizes, recognition, and publication of your work on the Foundation’s global platforms.
  • Contribute to the transformation of Seoul’s first AI Innovation District into a model of technological empathy.
    • For Whom

    For university students and professors in Korea in fields such as design, architecture, robotics, AI, or urban innovation.

    Ideal for those who want to combine creativity, technology, and humanism—and for teams eager to prototype new ways of living with intelligent machines in public space.

    How to Book
    1. Form a team of 5–10 members from your university.
    2. Submit your proposal online by September 28, 2025 (11:59 p.m. KST).
    3. Attend the three official orientation webinars in August.
    4. Develop your concept and submit your final presentation materials by October 14, 2025.
    5. Final presentations and awards take place on October 18, 2025, at Seocho Culture and Arts Park.

    For inquiries:

    The venue
    On October 19, 2025, the five finalist teams of the Seocho AI·Robot Public Service Competition will present their projects live at Seocho Culture and Arts Park. Each team will showcase their vision for human-centered, nature-inspired robotic public services, followed by jury evaluation, community voting, and the final awards ceremony recognizing the most outstanding designs.
    Learn more
    Impact stories

    They already experienced Origin8 in action

    — Peter Wittenbruch
    Workshop participant
    House of Beautiful Business
    "Original thinking begins at the origin."
    90%
    of attendees stated they will use the Origin8 method from now
    Read case study
    — Carlos de la Iglesia
    Microsoft Ibéria
    Astorga City Challenge
    "In my case, discovering Gaudí and how the Origin8 methodology already existed so many years ago."
    50%
    increase in confidence in creating a project in 48 h
    Read case study
    — Professor Kim Hyo-min
    UNIST University
    UNIST
    "This workshop introduced my students to an ideation method that is both structured and creatively liberating. The balance between theory, research, and hands-on design was exceptional."
    75 %
    Improvement in the ability to integrate natural inspiration into design
    Read case study
    — Ahlam Alsanaa
    Colman College 2nd year interior design student
    Origin8 Design Sprint “Home of the future, designed by going back to the origins”
    “It was a wonderful experience! The atmosphere was inspiring, and I learned a lot. Thank you for such a well-organized and engaging workshop.”
    80%
    Positive satisfaction with the experience
    Read case study
    — Peter Wittenbruch
    Workshop participant
    House of Beautiful Business
    “A beautiful journey into the artistic and emotional challenge of transforming nature and human emotion into meaningful, organic design.”
    35
    participants
    Read case study
    — Carlos de la Iglesia
    Microsoft Ibéria
    Astorga City Challenge
    "From Microsoft we are delighted with Origin8 method. It is an innovative way to work and take us to situations where we get the best out of ourselves. The workshop that we did was focused on innovation and the search for solutions and the Origin8 Method helped us to really rethink concepts and not go the easiest way, go further, be creative, which in the end is the real goal of the Gaudi method."
    62
    Participants
    Read case study
    — Professor Kim Hyo-min
    UNIST University
    UNIST
    "This workshop introduced my students to an ideation method that is both structured and creatively liberating. The balance between theory, research, and hands-on design was exceptional."
    75 %
    Improvement in the ability to integrate natural inspiration into design
    Read case study
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