Café Aalto by Mealdo — Seoul, South Korea

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Restaurant view at Café Aalto, Seoul, South Korea
(Image credit: press)

It almost feels like cosmic symmetry that a café whose clean-cut interiors are inspired by Alvar Aalto should debut in David Chipperfield’s first project in South Korea.

Set in Seoul’s transformed Yongsan-gu district, the straight lines of the English architect’s striated cubed skyscraper are quietly semaphored in the café’s interiors. Here, Teoyang Studio has installed thinly slatted birch screens that frame a deep-set cut-out ceiling to recall Aalto’s Savoy Vase, whilst diners perch stylishly on the iconic Stool 60 and Chair 66. 

A central reading table stocked with volumes on Finnish architecture is the ideal spot to sample the café’s offerings which are conceptualised by local bakery Mealdo. Pastry chef Ick-beom Jeon bakes crispy honeyed rusks with vanilla alongside fragrant bread loaves, and jams, whilst giving even the quotidian coffee an Aalto makeover with fresh chestnut cream, its woodsy hue an homage to the Finnish architect’s love for the beech tree.

Central reading table at Café Aalto, Seoul, South Korea

(Image credit: press)

Wall seating at Café Aalto, Seoul, South Korea

(Image credit: press)

Further wall seating at Café Aalto, Seoul, South Korea

(Image credit: press)

Exterior view of Café Aalto, Seoul, South Korea

(Image credit: press)

ADDRESS

100 Hangang-daero
Yongsan-gu

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Daven Wu

Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.