Architecture at Dongdeamun Design Plaza | Dream, Design and Play

Soon after exploring Myeongdong and having enough won to use for our DIY trip in Seoul, South Korea, my husband and I headed to DDP or Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Our itinerary was supposed to be for Discover Seoul Pass hop on and off tour with the following sets of places to explore: Deoksugung Palace, Sejong Center for performing arts, Gwanghwamun square, Gyeongbokgung palace of shining happiness for changing of guards but because our DSP plans failed, we had to just make alternative things to do.

Reading about DDP was very intriguing and we both want to see it personally. This place has a futuristic design but it also has a lot of history in it. There's a famous LED roses display here where a lot of Kdramas scenes were filmed but the display was stopped in April of 2019 so we were not able to see that. However, my husband and I were both amazed at the architecture of the said structure. I can't quite explain how this looked but it has a lot of panels and curves, I must say it is a uniquely designed one.

Getting there was easy with a bus though and it is quite famous but there's also a subway right in the building so there's nothing to worry about in terms of reaching there. There are also famous hotels around this area!

It was definitely overwhelming seeing this structure in person, every corner was worth taking photos especially since there were trees there which gives contrast to the gray facility. My husband and I took turns in getting our photos taken with this alien spaceship-like building! I found several other tourists in the area but I also noticed Koreans were also acting like tourists while they were there. There are no entrance fees by the way and there were several areas where you can find benches and seats to sit if you get tired from walking around. I had to stop a lot of times and just admire the architecture!

This is by the way designed by the late Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi-born British world-renowned architect. I found out that this has 40,000 aluminum panels! And it took them four years to finish the construction. It started on April 2009 and was completed in November 2013 and then opened to the public in March 2014! It's amazing knowing these facts!

Aside from enjoying the architecture, there are also museums, exhibitions, shops, souvenir stores, and parks in it, it is recommended that if you plan on visiting it, you check the DDP website for activities happening on those dates of visit. The weird but very high-class building can be appreciated from a distance too! After we explored DDP, we trekked to the nearby hill and watch it from above. We passed by Heunginjimun's historic gate of the fortress wall and also took photos of it with DDP at the background, I will share that in the next blog!

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