Not just a landmark: DDP emerges as global hub for art, fashion

Collectors, gallery representatives and designers from around the world gathered at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul for the collectible design fair Design Miami Seoul 2026 in early September.

Visitors wandered between sculptured furniture, lighting and objects made from ceramics, wood, lacquer and hanji (traditional Korean paper). Some stopped to admire. Others bought pieces. Conversations on the exhibition floor led to sales, commissions and discussions of future collaborations.

In recent years, such scenes have become increasingly common at the DDP. 

Seoul's hosting of Design Miami is rooted in the city's ambition to establish itself as a global design hub. In 2007, Mayor Oh Se-hoon — then in his first term — launched his “Design Seoul” policy, which aimed to remake the capital into a global design hub through architecture, public space and branding.

DDP itself grew out of that push: The design competition that selected the proposal by the world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid was held that same year, and construction broke ground in 2009 on the site of the old Dongdaemun Stadium.

Oh, who returned to City Hall in 2021, has continued to frame design not simply as a matter of aesthetics but as a long-term investment in Seoul's competitiveness. 

Now, DDP is increasingly becoming a shared stage for international design, fashion and contemporary art.

Why DDP? 

Designed by Hadid, the complex in Jung District opened on March 21, 2014, on the former site of Dongdaemun Stadium. Its sweeping metallic exterior is made up of 45,133 individually shaped panels, giving the building one of the most distinctive silhouettes in Seoul. 

DDP also holds a special place in Design Miami's own history. Hadid received the fair's inaugural Designer of the Year Award at its first edition in 2005. Twenty years later, Design Miami chose one of her best-known landmarks for its first Seoul exhibition. 

Since opening, DDP has hosted multiple art and design exhibitions including Design Miami Seoul and Seoul Design Week, seasonal festivals, fashion shows, forums, conferences and brand events — attracting a cumulative total of 126 million visitors so far. 

At night, the building's curved exterior becomes a canvas for "Seoul Light DDP," a seasonal media art festival launched in 2019. Now held three times a year, it drew 1.92 million visitors in 2025 alone, up roughly 40 percent from the year before. Past editions have paired newly commissioned digital works with pieces by celebrated Korean artists — for instance, this fall's edition, held from Sept. 3 through 13, featured reimagined works by Nam June Paik, widely regarded as the father of video art, and Korean abstract art pioneer Yoo Young-kuk as large-scale facade projections.

That combination of architecture and programming has made DDP more than an event venue. It has become one of the clearest symbols of Seoul's ambitions as a global design city. 

From showcase to marketplace 

The second edition of Design Miami Seoul, held from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6, drew a total of 11,972 visitors, including 2,937 during its VIP preview. A total of 106 designers and studios — spanning six galleries from the United States, Italy, Britain, Spain and Belgium, along with individual designers from Taiwan and Japan — presented more than 230 works. Roughly 50 pieces were sold during the event, with further purchase and collaboration inquiries following in the weeks after.

Seoul became Design Miami's first destination in Asia in 2025. At the time, CEO Jen Roberts said the organization had been paying attention to Seoul “for a long time,” citing the city's collector base and Korea's growing participation in the international design community. 

The larger fair also brought a stronger market dimension. Design was being bought and sold in Seoul, while galleries, designers, collectors and brands formed business connections that could continue beyond the week itself.

Founded in Miami in 2005, Design Miami has grown into what its organizers describe as “the most influential fair in the international design ecosystem.” The fair traces back to founder and real estate developer Craig Robins' effort to transform the once-abandoned Miami Design District into a center for design, fashion, food and art. Its flagship fairs now take place annually in Miami Beach and Paris, while its newer In Situ format brings exhibitions into distinctive local cultural settings. 

Iconic backdrop for Seoul Fashion Week 

Seoul has long aimed to establish itself as the host for one of the world’s top five fashion weeks alongside New York, Paris, London and Milan — and DDP has served as its most visible stage in that pursuit.

Launched in 2000, Seoul Fashion Week is Korea's flagship global fashion business event, connecting local designers with overseas buyers, media and consumers. Over 26 years, 367 brands have staged 2,247 runway shows through the event.

For the Spring/Summer 2027 season, which was held from Sept. 1 to 6, Seoul Fashion Week expanded beyond DDP for the first time to Lotte World Tower in Songpa District, southern Seoul. 

Brands such as Lie Sangbong, Caruso, Lie, Doucan and Holynumber7 — designers who built international followings after years on the Seoul Fashion Week runway — have long helped shape the event's identity from within Korea's own design scene.

This season, Re Rhee opened the DDP program with “The Essence of What Remains,” a collection that found beauty in the traces left by time rather than the polished perfection of the new.

At DDP alone, the season featured 17 designer runway shows, eight presentations and a trade show with 97 brands. 

By spreading the program across two landmarks, Seoul Fashion Week made more of the city itself part of the event. 

Frieze's next destination 

Frieze, a major player in the global art fair scene, is set to make its debut at a new stage at DDP next year. 

Frieze Seoul, which launched in 2022, completed its fifth edition at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, this month. More than 130 galleries from over 30 countries and regions participated, attracting more than 70,000 visitors. 

In 2027, Frieze Seoul is scheduled to move to DDP as Coex undergoes redevelopment. The art fair’s organizers said they chose DDP as the next host due to the venue's more concentrated exhibition halls, which will give individual galleries and presentations greater prominence, and because Dongdaemun serves as a district where design, fashion, architecture and contemporary culture converge. 

The move also comes as Frieze expands its longer-term presence in Seoul. Frieze House Seoul hosts gallery residencies, exhibitions and special projects throughout the year, while a Korean-language quarterly edition of Frieze magazine is set to launch in summer 2027. 

Founded in London in 1991 as a magazine before launching its first art fair in 2003, Frieze has since grown into one of the art world's most influential franchises, with editions now running in London, New York, Los Angeles and Seoul. 

BY SHIN WOO-JIN [[email protected]]