Goodbye Seoul

Goodbye Seoul

Goodbye Seoul. We're leaving. It's nothing you said, it's us — not you. We simply don't have the time for any longer-term commitment. On our way out the door we won't make this any harder than it needs to be. We'll pop in briefly to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) and be on the next flight out of the country.

I’m no architecture buff but Dame Zaha Hadid, the architect behind the DDP, has popped up a lot in my reading over the years. This is not to say I read a lot nor am I any kind of architecture buff.  It really is just a reflection over how brightly her light shines, or should I say shone. This great Dame of architecture died, young, just two weeks ago of a heart attack. This otherwise would be the perfect meeting between her work and I, a space built for my chosen discipline of design. 

From the outside, the façade of the plaza sparkles in various sizes of perforated aluminum panels — solid by day, light show by night. Indeed this is a landmark building, but perhaps also a spaceship from the future. We walk sheepishly towards the building, in hope that we don’t make a wrong move and get lost in space. Our fears fade once we’re inside and see the design store. We know how to shop and so everything is alright in this universe.

As we continue beyond the store and up through the building, it becomes clear that there are fabulously diverse spaces made for exhibitions and events. But we can’t help feeling a little lost. This building is huge and people within it are markedly absent – as visitors and as caretakers. 

The expansive white walls are lovely. I love white-on-white. But with so few people to follow or guide us, I rather briskly say to Randy, “Where is the wayfinding!”.  “The what?” Randy asks. To which I reply, “The signs to show us the way, it’s a graphic design thing.”  I become increasingly frustrated that my design discipline hasn’t been put to work, as we wander up, down and around the building. My next outburst is met by a “Be nice on the blog” from Randy.

So in the effort to be nice…  however imperfect of a meeting this was, here’s to Zaha Hadid, and the DDP – groundbreaking work that wasn’t dismissed like so many of her early buildings, for being “unbuildable”.

Let’s depart and rise above – from Seoul and across to Phuket, Thailand. There are minor delays with our flight (nothing to do with my attitude at DDP) and six and a half hours later, or so, we arrive.

It’s after midnight and we’re greeted at the airport by the sunniest of faces, Anne and Meredith – friends from the States who have just landed!! We float off on giddy-banter in a taxi to the Naiyang Beach Resort – booked only as a place to sleep tonight/this morning, which we will do so well… after a night-cap (thanks duty-free). Tomorrow will be when we start breaking some real ground!

The Indigo Pearl

The Indigo Pearl

DMZ - Demilitarized Zone

DMZ - Demilitarized Zone