Hyundai design chief taps Korean cool to transform car industry
In a world of exaggeration, Korea offers a quieter, more balanced approach. It’s an aesthetic Luc Donckerwolke integrates into his own designs – with great success. Our August issue is out on July 29.
It’s known as the “K-wave” – the idea that Korean culture has become a globally sought-after commodity: think K-pop, Parasite and Squid Game. What makes Korea so cool – according to today’s most acclaimed and cosmopolitan car designer – lies in what is left out.
“If you look at the art, everything is orchestrated in a really puristic way,” says Luc Donckerwolke, a South Korean-based Belgian who counts Swahili among his eight or so languages. “Even the architecture in Seoul has a lot of purism, a lot of reductions inside it. It’s all about a real, reduced, essential experience.
