DONGDAEMUN DESIGN PLAZA, SEOUL

Welcoming in 2014 the Culture Chanel exhibition, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza is set to host the Cruise collection 2015/16 show.

Devoid of a single angle or straight line, the world’s largest neo-futurist building, conceived by Zaha Hadid, instead plays out as a cohesive symphony of pure, continuous curves. Like some alien spaceship that has come to land in Seoul, the ovoid silver structure (measuring 86,574 square meters, or 931, 875 square feet) blends seamlessly into the urban landscape with its fluid, harmonious lines.

The gaze ricochets off of this concrete structure sheathed in 45,133 individual aluminum panels, each distinct from the next. Equally spectacular is its interior – all twists and arches – which extends across three levels below ground and four above without the use of a single pillar. Features include a spiral staircase, a cylindrical gallery and spiral corridors, and a bright, Arctic-white lobby with a nine-meter high ceiling. The structure incorporates cultural artifacts discovered during archaeological excavations, including remnants of the ramparts that once surrounded Seoul on four nearby hills, dating back to the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

The first woman ever to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize, Zaha Hadid, born in Baghdad in 1950 but British by adoption, designed the Chanel Mobile Art pavilion in 2008 and is one of the favorite architects of Karl Lagerfeld.

Photos by Panta Creation and Park Haewook ⓒ DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza)