World`s renowned architects to visit Seoul

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- The first female winner of architecture's equivalent
to the Nobel Prize and an architect in charge of resurrecting the World Trade
Center will visit Seoul next month to participate in a major design conference
here, officials said Tuesday.
The Seoul Design Conference, opening on Oct 9, will bring together some 30
architects and designers from around the world to discuss the role of design in
future urban life.
Zaha Hadid, a British architect of Iraqi descent known for her deconstructivist
designs, in 2004 became the first female recipient of the Pritzker Architecture
Prize, considered the architectural equivalent of the Nobel Prize. American
architect Daniel Libeskind, the chief planner behind reconstruction work on the
World Trade Center site in New York, will also attend the conference.
Ross Lovegrove, an industrial designer from Wales best known for designing Sony's
Walkman, the prototype of portable audio players, and Yves Behar, chief
industrial designer of the XO-1, known as the $100 laptop manufactured for
children in developing countries, will also be participating in the conference,
officials said.
The event will be held on the sideline of the Seoul Design Olympiad 2008 hosted
by the city of Seoul to celebrate its designation as the World Design Capital
(WDC) for 2010.
The WDC is a project promoted by the International Design Alliance to seek city
development and cultural enrichment through design.
The event is scheduled to run from Oct. 10-30.