Curving the Edges of Design
Story by Shine lee/Justin Choi
Designed By: Michael Park
Edited by Sarah Park
Designed By: Michael Park
Edited by Sarah Park
The DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza) has grown to be a major tourist attraction in Seoul, South Korea, some of the key features being the unique exterior shape and the modern, distinctive interior design. The construction of the DDP took approximately eight and a half years, first planned on August 2006. The initial plan for the DDP was making the Dongdaemun stadium into a park and replacing the baseball stadium with a building. In August 2007, the widely known architect Zaha Hadid designed the landscape, which would soon be the trademark of the DDP. Later on in October, the management basis plan of the design plaza was developed. In April, 2009, the DDP finally began constructing. In October, the Dongdaemun history culture park opened. Finally, on March 21, 2014, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza finally opened for exhibits and tours. The photographer interviewed at the DDP has stated, “before this place officially became the DDP, there wasn’t really much to it. However after the DDP finished construction and fully opened, I think the area has become a much more appealing place for both the photographers and the citizens”. |
Zaha Hadid is the designer and creator of the DDP. She was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Award (considered to be the Nobel Prize of architecture) in 2004, and is internationally known for her work. Some of her famous pieces of work are the BMW Central Building in Leipzig, Germany, the MAXXI: National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, Italy and the Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany.
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The DDP takes a different perspective and angle compared to other plazas in the world such as the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. The general concept and philosophy of the DDP is that the spatial flexibility of the building and park/plaza is associated with the flow of liquid, particularly water. It consists of integrations of the Korean tradition, also with the constantly shifting future of design. According to the main designer of the DDP, Zaha Hadid, the origin of this concept is “the perceived need of architecture to allow people to imagine what they could not do before”.
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