Visit to Dongdaemun Design Plaza

It is a major urban development landmark in Seoul, South Korea, designed by Zaha Hadid and Samoo, with a distinctively neo-futuristic design characterized by the "powerful, curving forms of elongated structures." The landmark is the centerpiece of South Korea's fashion hub and popular tourist destination, Dongdaemun, which features a walkable rooftop park, large global exhibition spaces, futuristic retail stores and restored parts of the Seoul Fortress.

The DDP has been one of the main reasons for Seoul's designation as the World Design Capital in 2010. Construction started in 2009 and officially opened on March 21, 2014.

The Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) was designed by the 2004 Pritzker Prize-winning British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid with the concept of "Metonymic Landscape". Metonymy refers to a method of indirectly describing a specific object, and Hadid integrated historical, cultural, urban, social, and economic aspects of Seoul inferred from this method to create a landscape scene. Designed as a cultural center in Seoul's historic district, as well as Korea's largest fashion district, the DDP is made up of undulating surfaces that resemble the flow of liquid and allow for flexibility in space. State-of-the-art BIM (Building Information Modelling), mega-truss (extra-large roof truss) system and spatial framing system are the key features in terms of large-scale space creation. According to Hadid, the fundamental characteristics of its design were "transparency, porosity and durability". The building includes many green features, including a double-skin façade, solar panels, and a water recycling system.

The exterior envelope of the DDP, a smooth and giant mushroom-like structure floating above ground level, is made of concrete, aluminum, steel, and stone. The interior of the building is finished with plaster reinforced with synthetic fiber, acoustic tiles, acrylic resin, stainless steel, and polished stone in the interior.