Kia Soul Event in Seoul Enhances Appreciation of Korean Design

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On The Road Again: In Soulful, Seoul Korea

by Marty Bernstein
The Auto Channel
Senior Editor-at-Large

Korea …just the name of the Southeast Asian country conjures images and words from contemporary political events, history, food, culture and of course, automobiles. But design, especially Korean design? It’s tantamount to the oxymoron “Texas Culture” right? Wrong.

Really wrong!

On a recent trip to Seoul, Korea along with a few other auto and lifestyle journalists, I was exposed to the emerging, energetic and enthusiastic presentation of Korean design inn architecture, the accouterments of daily life and of course Korean manufactured automobiles, specifically Kia.

Seoul has been awarded the prestigious World Design Capital 2010 designation which is unique as it aims to focus on the broader essence of design’s impact on urban spaces, economies and citizens. The designation provides a distinctive opportunity for cities to feature their accomplishments in attracting and promoting innovative design. The title, bestowed by a prominent international council of industrial designers, has generated year’s worth of design parties, exhibitions, conferences and other events including Kia’s Soul in Seoul.

But before this becomes a travelogue of Sights in Seoul, which I will detail later, the highlight of the trip was the unique opportunity of listening to a panel discussion of eminently qualified, experienced and award winning designers and educators discussing their craft, often in frank certainly candid language as it related to Korean culture and mores.

Designers on designs and designing

Headline billing in the panel went to Peter Schreyer, chief design officer of Kia Motors Corporation who directs Kia’s domestic and international design functions and is responsible implementing the company’s design vision line with its brand values. Schreyer supervises Kia’s design centers in Frankfurt, German, Irvine, California, Tokyo, Japan and the head office in Namyang, Korea.

Prior to joining Kia four years ago, Schreyer was chief designer for Volkswagen from 2002 to 2005 and before that spent twenty-five years with Audi where he developed a new design language for the luxury brand. Among is designs is the Audi TT and VW’s new Beetle. He is one of the three auto designers to receive an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of art in recognition of his contributions to automotive design.

The leading Korean designer, Yong-Sae Kim – rock star of design in Korea and throughout the world – for his designs ranging from MP3 players to luxury boats to flying cars is the CEO of Innodesign, Inc. in Palo Alto, CA, a well respected international design company was also part of the panel discussion. His insights and accomplishments in industrial and product design have been recognized by his peers and Business Week has twice chosen him for Best Product of the Year awards.

Completing the panel was the director general of World Design City (WDC), Keoun Nah, a leading design academic, who has a PhD from Tufts University, and is a professor at one of Korea’s most prestigious Hongik University brought a scholarly perspective to the panel and as the director general of WDC he is an international design specialist.

In a wide ranging and quite open discussion between the panelists focused on Korean design in contemporary terms not on hype and future speak. Schreyer noted, “Kia is a major international company with solid values and very human approaches; I came to the company as a designer but with corporate thinking.” The noted designer’s Soul, while a great marketing success, has won numerous accolades including runner up for car of the year award and was selected as the feature car of the World Design Seoul 2010 events.

Kim, who had not met Schreyer prior to the panel, commented, “Peter has brought Kia a great looking car that is not difficult to manufacture, an amazing feat given our national instincts. Good design is about more than shape and art, it’s about practicality.” This comment from the man who has designed an MP3 player as small as a coin, mobile phones and digital cameras.

Professor Nah praised the Soul’s design as a significant standout in the staging of World Design Capital Seoul 2010.

Designer Traveling

As a semi-professional traveler logging 150 thousand miles a year, I’ve become a critic and chronic complainer of poor airport design but was blown away just looking at the exterior of Incheon International Airport from the upper deck of the Korean Air 747. It is a distinctive, beautifully graceful design, which the architects called “a feeling of warmth and welcome to showcase Korea’s art, traditions and culture.”

The airports roofline is a sweeping arc similar to the roof arcs we were to see later when visiting an ancient Korean palace. The interior was tranquil and warm despite the hurried, hectic atmosphere of most airports and that includes baggage pick-up. The airport is loaded with moving sidewalks which mean no more than a 400 foot (122 meter) walk anywhere – which is certainly better than Charles de Gaulle in Paris or Schipol in Amsterdam or the frightful Frankfurt flughafen.

Designer Driving Part 1

Driving into the thriving city of Seoul some thirty or so miles away on a multi-lane super highway, Korean appreciation of design again registered as we drove up to then over a distinctive, graceful bridge that led us to the excruciating traffic of Seoul. More on traffic later.

Designer Digs

Our hotel was top-drawer international branded hostelry, but undistinguished in design except for a lighting console in my room which controlled an array of lights that rivaled the Strip in Vegas. Internet in Korea is blazingly fast – they say – yet was only average in the hotel. Why expensive hotels charge exorbitant fees for Internet access is beyond me. They have you by the rooms anyway. My brief stay, as in previous visits to Seoul, resulted in a $50 U.S. bill for minimal usage of an hour a day for three days. Not exactly a travelers’ treat.

Designer Delights

Next door to the hotel was a branch of the upscale Hyundai Department Store which rivals any U.S. shopping center stores including Nordstrom’s, Saks or Needless Markup, er Neiman Marcus in price, designer brands and assortments. Beneath the hotel was a vast warren, albeit less elegant, shopping center of countless stores and quick food emporiums.

Designer Dining

There’s more to dining in Seoul than kimchi, the traditional fermented cabbage dish adored by Koreans. Every time I’ve been to Seoul there’s been at least one meal at the Korean equivalent of cafeteria. But not an ordinary U.S. cafeteria – these are truly grandiose designer buffets on steroids with a huge selection of beautifully displayed dietary delights.

Almost anything you can name they have on display cold counter, steam tables, grills, and sushi sections, desert laden tables for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pick a plate and go back as often as desired. Interestingly in addition to the usual knife and forks are Korean chopsticks – not made of wood or plastic, but stainless steel. Of course we also had the mandatory meal of Korean bar-b-q that is always welcome.

Designer Driving Part 2

I’ve driven a variety of vehicles in cities known for damn near impossible traffic congestion of big cars, little cars, truck, buses and limos, grid-lock, poor signage, bad drivers and honking horns and sirens in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Rio, San Paulo, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Houston and a few others, but nothing … absolutely nothing can compare to the horrendous traffic in Seoul. Nothing. There are 23 million people in the Seoul metro area and I must assume every person has a vehicle in modest colors of grey, black, white and an occasional silver. Reds, yellows, blues and greens must be against the law.

Since the Souls we drove were domestic, i.e., Korean models, the navigation system – detailing boulevards, streets, and lots of very tight alleys -- was in Korean for both audio and visual information.
Since neither my colleague, A.J. Mueller a fine photographer, nor I were familiar with the language, Kia provided a young translator as a passenger in the car to give us often imperfect directions including: “ri-left straight, back other wrong way, no go here” and my personal favorite, “careful, bad danger traffic!”

And we did drive for several hours, around and in various parts of both North Seoul – the old town – and South Seoul – the newer more modern center of apartments, retail and business. Both parts of the city were rebuilt after the Korean war and new construction was everywhere as we drove on modern boulevards, freeways, shop lined avenues, suburban look streets and when we made a wrong turn, alleys.

No matter where we drove the Soul in Seoul was terrific to drive. It was responsive, agile and nimble when needed on the straights and climbing to the top of large observation hill. Now most vehicles on the road in Seoul are conservative

Designer Duds

Since this was a cultural visit we had the opportunity of visiting some Korean landmarks including an ancient castle with honor guards. Near the entrance of a tourist-stall which provided the replica Korean generals outfits in the photo below: