his works are based on his critical concerns with western culture of the 20th century, particularly regarding the topics of beauty and poverty. he won various prizes for his practice and work and served as coordinator for 'paju book city'. the american institute of architects made seung an honorary fellow of aia in 2002, and the korea national museum of contemporary of art selected him as artist of the year in 2002, which was a first for any architect, after which he hosted a grand solo architecture exhibition. seung has gained worldwide fame as an architect by way of his architectural achievements and various international exhibitions, as well as has spread his architectural influence over asia, europe, and the americas. in 2007, the south korean government honored seung with the korea award for art and culture, and he was commissioned as director for gwangju design biennale 2011 after for korean pavilion of venice biennale 2008. in 2014-2016, he was the first city architect of seoul metropolitan government, planning and reviewing major public projects in seoul. since 2018, he was appointed chief commissioner of the presidential commission on architecture policy of moon jae-in administration.