Slum presentation takes prize

A four-member team won the top prize at Herald Corporation’s English-language presentation competition for college students on Thursday for their engaging presentation on urban slum transformation.

“None of us have studied overseas to learn English,” said Jeong Jun-young, a member of the winning group.

“We all learned the foreign language using local resources. So this prize means a lot to us.”

The winning team, named “Shall We Design,” consists of students of different majors: French literature, law, landscape architecture and electrical engineering. They presented on the transformation of Gamcheon village, a picturesque art-adorned town in their native Busan that used to be a slum area.

“Because some of us live in Seoul while the others live in Busan, it was often hard for us to communicate while preparing for this competition,” said Jeong. “We are glad that we beat the odds and got this award.”

A total of four teams competed on Thursday for the top prize, after winning the semifinals the previous day.

The presentation competition is a major side event of Herald Design Forum, an annual design-themed event launched last year.

“Shall We Design” was given a cash prize of 3 million won ($2,600) and the opportunity to give their winning presentation during a VIP dinner attended by the forum’s invited figures, including Kenya Hara and Tadao Ando.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)