Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)
Eulji-ro, Seoul, South Korea
The Dongdaemun Design Plaza is Zaha Hadid's silver spaceship — a 86,574-square-metre cultural complex with no straight lines, no right angles, and a flowing neo-futuristic exterior that looks like liquid metal frozen in the process of pouring.
Insadong
Insadong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Insadong is Seoul's traditional culture street — a pedestrianised corridor of art galleries, tea houses, antique shops, and craft stores that has been the centre of Korean artistic commerce since the Joseon dynasty, when the neighbourhood was home to the artists and calligraphers who served the royal court.
Leeum Museum of Art
Itaewon-ro, Seoul, South Korea
Leeum is the Samsung family's private art museum — a world-class collection housed in three buildings designed by three of the most celebrated architects of the late 20th century: Mario Botta (the terracotta rotunda for traditional Korean art), Jean Nouvel (the black glass box for contemporary art), and Rem Koolhaas (the concrete-and-glass structure for special exhibitions).
Naksan Park & Ihwa Mural Village
41 Naksan-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Naksan Park is a hilltop park on the eastern edge of Seoul's old city wall that offers one of the best sunrise views in the city — a panorama from the wall's ramparts that takes in the palace district, Namsan Tower, and the modern skyline in a single sweep.
Samcheong-dong
Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Samcheong-dong is the quieter, more refined neighbourhood that sits between Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanok Village — a tree-lined street of galleries, boutiques, and cafés that attracts a more local crowd than the heavily touristed areas on either side.
Explore art in Seoul
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