2026 Seoul International Garden Expo: Where Nature, Art, and Urban Culture Meet
서울특별시 성동구 뚝섬로 273
서울숲공원
Enjoy Cultural Tourism
2026 Seoul International Garden Expo is a large-scale cultural garden festival where nature, art, and urban identity come together in Seoul Forest.
Five artist gardens and two invited gardens have been officially confirmed, offering visitors a diverse and immersive garden experience.
Selected through an international competition and invitations to renowned landscape architects, the gardens will remain permanently after the expo, allowing long-term enjoyment beyond the event period.
Selected Artist Gardens
The artist gardens were chosen under the theme “The Wave of Seoul,” with designers participating from 13 countries around the world.
A total of five works were selected, including three international teams and two Korean teams.
Five Artist Garden Concepts
1. Diverse Encounters (South Korea)
A symbolic ecological garden where humans and living creatures such as mushrooms, swallows, and earthworms coexist, envisioning a sustainable urban ecosystem.
2. PopK (Italy)
A creative fusion of K-pop culture and traditional Korean pavilion architecture, expressing the coexistence of modern Hallyu culture and heritage.
3. Seoul Sojourn (India)
A dynamic landscape that transitions from traditional Korean scenery into contemporary urban imagery, reflecting Seoul’s evolving identity.
4. Source of Flow (South Korea)
A garden that expresses the natural and cultural origins of Seoul through mountains, terrain, and native plants.
5. Urban Weaving (China)
An abstract interpretation of Seoul’s dynamism, visualized through concrete pillars and woven fabric-like patterns.
Invited Garden Artists
In addition to the artist gardens, two invited gardens were designed by internationally recognized and domestic landscape architects.
Henri Bava (International)
A Tunisia-born landscape architect known for large-scale public garden projects such as Aqua Magica in Germany. He approaches urban, architectural, and landscape design as an integrated whole.
Lee Nam Jin (South Korea)
A recipient of the 2025 Seoul Landscape Award and the Korea Landscape Award, known for expressing Seoul’s everyday life and sense of place through refined garden language.
Opening Schedule and Venue
The artist and invited gardens will open to the public starting May 1, 2026, with an official opening ceremony held at Seoul Forest.
The expo will run for 180 days, from May 1 to October 27, 2026, and admission will be completely free.
Meaning and Legacy of the Expo
The 2026 Seoul International Garden Expo expresses the cultural flow and identity of Seoul through the theme “Seoul Flow.”
By establishing a Garden Connector Network centered around Seoul Forest, the expo expands urban garden culture where ecology, art, and daily life coexist.
As the gardens remain after the event, citizens and visitors can continue to experience Seoul’s evolving landscape long into the future.
At the heart of the city, a unique encounter between nature and culture awaits.
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