Ron Bakker was invited to join a committee in Busan, South Korea, to judge a competition that brought together Korean architects and leading international designers, including MVRDV, OMA, Meier Partners, 2Portzamparc, and DPA.

The aim of competition was to bring together local design knowledge with new international perspectives, to contribute new insights in both the design and evaluation process. As the committee’s international voice, Ron helped debate whether to award sites the status of ‘Special Architectural District’, allowing them to unlock unique benefits such as regulatory relaxation and contributions to fees.

Following the judging, Ron spoke to students, academics and visitors at Pukyong National University to share his insights on the role of sustainability and innovation in PLP’s work.

PLP has had a recent string of new projects in South Korea, with our flagship project in the country – The Net-Zero National Meteorological Centre in Daejeon – having won a recent international design competition. Our teams have also been developing a new office tower in Seoul’s Seongsu-dong district.

Supporting the work of PLP Architecture, PLP Labs has also been active in the country for a number of years, helping to develop a wide range of strategy pieces for clients to help them better understand everything from the future landscape of product design through to specific workplace strategies for individual companies.