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Photo Courtesy : en.wikipedia.org
Situated right smack in the heart of Dongdaemun shopping district, it is hard not to notice the newest and most iconic landmark in the whole on South Korea’s architectural design industry. Designed not only as a cultural hub for exhibitions and events within the country, the DDP also serves as a get-together venue for people of all ages to interact and share ideas with each other. The DDP is compromised of five halls: Art Hall, Museum, Design Lab, Design Market, and Dongdaemun History and Culture Park.
Designed by world-class architect Zaha Hadid, this impressive building boasts of 40,000 disinct aluminum panel as its exterior look. This landscape aims to link the park, plaza and city together by integrating the park and plaza seamlessly as one. DDP is recognised an investment in the education and inspiration of future generations as it encourages innovations, engages the community to let ideas and feedback flow while allowing space for talents to showcase and flourish.
The Art Hall serves as a launch pad for South Korea’s creativeness in art as its primary purpose is to hold major concerts, exhibitions, fashion shows, trade shows and performances. The Design Hall, on the other hand, is comprised of five sections: Design Playground, Design Dulle-gil(trail), Design Museum, Design Exhibition Hall, and the Design Rest Area. This hall aims to blend the everchanging global trends and Korea’s design seamlessly into one. The Design Lab serves as a springboard for rising Korean creative product designers, whereas The Design Market serves as a multipurpose space that fuses culture, experiences, and shopping. This hall is open 24 hours! 🙂
There are a variety of public spaces within the DDP and these places include the Convention Hall, Exhibition Halls, Lab and Archives, Library, Design Museum, Media Centre, Children’s Education Centre, Seminar rooms and the Sky Lounge. Come along and take a walk through the DDP and let yourself be awed by the spatial experience that this iconic landscape promises! 🙂
Korean Drama lovers who have a keen eye will recognize that DDP is used as a filming location for “My Love from the Star (SBS, 2013)”, “The Producers (KBS, 2015)” and “She Was Pretty (MBC, 2015)”.
The complex is made up of eight storeys, of which four sit above ground level and four are set below the plaza. Venture to the rooftop of the DDP and you will find yourself surprised at how beautiful the area is! A walk descending gently down to the The Dongdaemun History & Culture Park makes it enjoyable and accessible for everyone of all ages. This park gives a glimpse of how the area was once used as a military training ground during the Joseon dynasty. Visitors can also enjoy special experience of relics and castle walls of Joseon dynasty found during the course of demolition of Dongdaemun stadium
Visitors can also enjoy special experience of relics and castle walls of Joseon dynasty found during the course of demolition of Dongdaemun stadium.
For those who are interest to know/see more, here’s a Youtube video from the DDP’s official youtube channel about the building itself.
Getting there :
Take Subway line 4 and alight at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station. Walk out of Exit 1 and you will see DDP