Plastic fantastic: Wallpaper* visits Seoul’s latest music hub, Vinyl & Plastic
Itaewon, a thriving inner-city district of the South Korean capital of Seoul, sees an exciting new addition to its vibrant scene – the Vinyl & Plastic store. Opening its doors a few weeks ago, the neighbourhood's newest music hub comes courtesy of the country's leading credit card issuer, Hyundai Card, and provides the city's residents with the perfect spot in which to browse music, enjoy a coffee, sit back and relax.
Vinyl & Plastic is strategically positioned next to another of Hyundai Card’s cultural ventures – the Music Library, which houses over 10,000 records and some 3,000 music-related books. But unlike the Music Library – which is exclusively accessible only to those who possess a Hyundai Card – Vinyl & Plastic is open to all.
The store boasts an impressively-curated collection of media, containing over 4,000 vinyl LPs and 8,000 CDs, covering a wide variety of musical genres.
Featuring an exterior designed by young local architecture firm Samuso Hyojadong, the structure spans three floors and also contains the exhibition space on the lower ground floor. The space, titled Storage will show a selection of contemporary pieces from a variety of disciplines, spanning art, film, architecture and design.
Instead of completely altering the pre-existing structure on site, Hyundai Card made sure that its original façade and materials still have a presence in the new scheme. The architects aimed to remove ‘the weight of the façade’ by adding an 8m-high metal and glass frame. This gesture provides exposure and a new identity for the store, but also ensures an abundance of light flowing through its interiors.
The store boasts an impressively-curated collection of media, containing over 4,000 vinyl LPs and 8,000 CDs, covering a wide variety of musical genres
The basement of Vinyl & Plastic will be used as a multifunctional exhibition space, showing a selection of contemporary pieces from a variety of disciplines, spanning art, film, architecture and design
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Vinyl & Plastic website
ADDRESS
Vinyl & Plastic
248 Itaewonro
Yongsangu
Seoul
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Remembering Frank Gehry, a titan of architecture and a brilliant human beingLong-time Wallpaper* contributor Michael Webb reflects on the legacy of the Los Angeles architect, who died today at age 96
-
Lexus finally confirms the name of its all-electric LFA Concept supercarStill designated a design study, the Lexus LFA Concept should be the successor to the most unlikely of all 20th-century supercars
-
King of cashmere Brunello Cucinelli on his new biographical docu-drama: ‘This is my testimony’Directed by Cinema Paradiso’s Giuseppe Tornatore, ‘Brunello: the Gracious Visionary’ premiered in cinematic fashion at Rome’s Cinecittà studios last night, charting the meteoric rise of the deep-thinking Italian designer
-
Spice up the weekly shop at Mallorca’s brutalist supermarketIn this brutalist supermarket, through the use of raw concrete, monolithic forms and modular elements, designer Minimal Studio hints at a critique of consumer culture
-
In South Korea, a new Bangjja Yugi museum honours a centuries-old Korean traditionStudio Heech transforms a coal-mining warehouse into a glowing cultural hub celebrating Korea’s master bronzesmith Lee Bong-ju – and the ancient craft of bangjja yugi
-
Thomas Heatherwick's 2025 Seoul architecture biennale calls for ‘radically more human’ buildingsThe 2025 Seoul architecture biennale launches in the South Korean capital, curated by Thomas Heatherwick, who argues for creating buildings in tune with emotion, 'the thing that drives us'
-
On Jeju Island, South Korea, a cabin stay with unobstructed views of forest and skyEgattoc is a new hospitality complex by architect Byoung Cho, who wanted to create an experience where guests ‘can see the forest while they take a shower’
-
Join our tour of Taikaka House, a slice of New Zealand in SeoulTaikaka House, meaning ‘heart-wood’ in Māori, is a fin-clad, art-filled sanctuary, designed by Nicholas Burns
-
Raw, refined and dynamic: A-Cold-Wall*’s new Shanghai store is a fresh take on the industrial lookA-Cold-Wall* has a new flagship store in Shanghai, designed by architecture practice Hesselbrand to highlight positive spatial and material tensions
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practicesIn the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
-
Studio Heech transforms a Seoul home, nodding to Pierre Chareau’s Maison De VerreYoung South Korean practice Studio Heech joins the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios