Dongdaemun Design Plaza

The Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) is a massive silver blob of a building by the late architect Zaha Hadid, completed in 2014 at a cost of over 400 billion won. The building functions as a design museum, exhibition hall, cultural facility, and public space, and its exterior — an irregular, curving surface of aluminum panels with no right angles — is one of the most distinctive architectural statements in East Asia.

The building sits next to the historic Heunginjimun Gate (East Gate) at the junction of several shopping districts. The surrounding area is Seoul's traditional textile and fashion hub, open round the clock with wholesale and retail clothing markets. A night visit makes good sense — the DDP is lit dramatically after dark and the fashion market buzz in the adjacent blocks is at its liveliest.

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Zaha Hadid's DDP was the most expensive and controversial building project in Seoul's history when it opened in 2014. The site required demolishing a historic baseball stadium, and archaeologists found extensive Joseon-era fortifications underneath during construction. The remains were incorporated into the museum below, making the building simultaneously an argument for radical innovation and a preservation project.

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