Heunginjimun stands apart because of the semicircular stone wall, known as an ongseong, that wraps around its front gate. Most city gates of the Joseon Dynasty remain flat, but this fortress entrance features a curved barrier designed to…
Dongdaemun Fashion and Design
This walk traces Dongdaemun's dramatic transformation from a medieval military outpost to the heart of South Korea's contemporary fashion and design world. You will explore historic city walls, bustling mid-century markets, and the spectacular futuristic architecture of Zaha Hadid's DDP.
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1. Heunginjimun Park
2. Seoul City Wall Museum
The Seoul City Wall Museum sits behind a glass facade that reflects the Naksan section of the ancient Hanyangdoseong fortress. This structure holds the remnants of a six hundred year old stone barricade that once defined the city limits…
3. Heunginjimun Gate (Dongdaemun)
Heunginjimun Gate sits alone in the middle of a bustling intersection, framed by high stone walls that curve into two rounded bastions. Unlike the other main gates of Seoul’s fortress wall, it wears a semi-circular defensive wall, or…
4. Cheonggye 6-ga Ogansugyo Bridge
The Ogansugyo Bridge spans the Cheonggyecheon stream, identifiable by the five large stone arches carved directly into its foundation. These arches mimic the original Joseon Dynasty water gates that once allowed the stream to flow through…
5. Pyounghwa Market
The Pyounghwa Market occupies a long, low concrete block stretching along the Cheonggyecheon stream. It emerged in the nineteen fifties when refugees from the north arrived in Seoul. These displaced tailors and merchants set up makeshift…
6. DOOTA Mall
The Doota Mall features a jagged, glass-paneled facade that glows in bright colors once the sun goes down. It opened in nineteen ninety-nine as the first retail space in the Dongdaemun fashion district to stay open until dawn. For decades,…
7. Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)
The Dongdaemun Design Plaza is a sprawling, silver-skinned structure that looks like a metallic, elongated spaceship landed in the middle of Seoul. Designed by architect Zaha Hadid, the building flows in curved, windowless aluminum panels,…
8. Igansumun Flood Gate
The Igansumun Flood Gate is a double-arched stone structure that sits embedded into the old city wall of Seoul. Built in the early fifteenth century, it controlled the water flow of the Cheonggyecheon stream as it passed beneath the…
9. Dongdaemun History Museum
The Dongdaemun History Museum sits inside a large, sunken glass and concrete structure shaped like a futuristic silver disc. It exists because construction crews digging for a stadium foundation in two thousand seven hit stone. They…