Utilizing the regional characteristics of Busan, Korea, and Asia as the basis for its specialized research, ADCF was established to present new directions for the future instead of remaining within past traditions, and to address regional and global issues and challenges by the implementation of design.

The institute is actively researching Korean and Asian design cultures to establish a unique Korean design educational system, based on the culture and arts of Korea and Asia, and not theories and methodologies originated in the West. Through multifarious research, ADCF aims to secure the originality and identity of design research and education, and to present a circular model centered on research institutes that applies its research to education, i.e. as “the liaison of research and education.” .

ADCF is organized into the “Research Planning Department” that focuses on culture-based design research and the “Curriculum Design Department” that develops curriculum and publishes textbooks. The “Research Planning Department” is then further divided into the “Humanities Design Lab” which seeks Asian perspectives and global methodologies for design education, and the “Regional Culture Lab” which seeks to discover future design values from its locality. As ADCF was awarded a research endowment grant for the ‘2019 Humanities and Social Sciences Research Institution’ from Korea National Research Foundation, the “Curriculum Design Department” has established a separate curriculum development team to conduct systematic research. The results of the research conducted by the institute are applied to design education and are also shared and exchanged throughout internal/external academic forums and publications..