Photographer: Yong Joon Choi | ArchDaily

Painter N's House / a.co.lab

Miwa Negoro — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

The "Painter N's House" is a remodeling project of a single-family house originally built in 1969, where an artist couple had lived for over a decade. Rather than replacing the existing structure, the project began with the question of how to preserve the accumulated lifestyle of both the residents and the surrounding neighborhood, while introducing new spatial possibilities suited to contemporary life.

Shaping Desire: How Architects Redefine Commercial Spaces

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 07:30:00 +0000

In contemporary architecture, commercial spaces have become more than points of sale; they are stages where identity, image, and experience converge. Stores, showrooms, and branded interiors often operate as laboratories where architects experiment with form, material, and light, translating corporate narratives into spatial experiences. In this context, the architect emerges as a mediator of desire, shaping atmospheres that guide perception, evoke emotion, and subtly influence behavior. This role reveals a complex intersection between design and capitalism: the creation of spaces that sell not only products, but also aspirations, lifestyles, and cultural meaning. By transforming commerce into an architectural performance, these projects invite reflection on how the discipline negotiates its agency in a world where visibility and image have become as essential as function.

Torriden Flagship Store / YGGGR

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the heart of Seongsu-dong, there is a space that feels like a small ocean blooming within the city. Torriden's flagship store in Seongsu is serene and crystal-clear—like a single drop of water—expressing the very essence of the brand in its purest form.

Dickies Flagship Store / oftn studio

Hana Abdel — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Dickies, an iconic American workwear brand, has opened its first flagship store in Korea, located in Seongsu, Seoul. This project was launched by Musinsa, aiming to shift Dickies' image in Korea while preserving its core values. The site was formerly a leather goods store housed in a 40-year-old building. The aged exterior, with its weathered red bricks, was retained to reflect the historical context of Seongsu, an area known for its industrial past.

ASI House / NOMAL

Hana Abdel — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The English word 'stay', which means 'to continue to be in a place and not leave', has become a noun that replaces the meaning of 'sensuous accommodation' in Korea. The first concern for the project was what makes this market unique between various genres of accommodation such as hotels, motels, inns, and resorts. 'Stay' is a fully furnished single-family house for daily rent for people who dream about living in a house. Since the primary housing market is apartments in Korea, many people dream of building and living in a home or having a weekend house. However, it requires a high investment of time and money. Therefore, the 'stay' market can be an attractive point to fulfill this desire to live in a house. Consumers can choose a variety of weekend houses without going through these processes.

NAVER 1784 Canteen & Cafe / Betwin Space Design

Hana Abdel — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

NAVER 1784 Canteen & Café is a new type of restaurant space where employees can enjoy trendy meals, cafes, and bakeries of NAVER 1784, a robot-friendly building and has a differentiated system that allows real robots to deliver food and employees to enjoy new and trendy menus through a shared kitchen platform. In particular, the restaurant space plays a key role as a test bed and was designed to provide an environment in which employees can work more creatively while experiencing the fast-changing trendy meal, unlike other restaurant spaces.

Seiromushi Cuisine Restaurant / Design Studio Minwoo*

Hana Abdel — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 18:00:00 +0000

Designstudiominwoo* has created two spaces to feel differently under the concept of "TIMELESS MODERNITY," which does not change over time. The world entering through two roads from the entrance is the same, but it gives a different feeling. The first hall space, which entered through the forked road, reflected faintly with the light falling from the high ceiling, imagining fog in the pond. A quiet stonework is located on the pond, creating an atmosphere of space. Objects with different physical properties made of triangular horns above them become the point of space. The second room space of the forked road is reminiscent of the light from the wall shining through the trees, expressing the beauty of soft light. The space composition of Otsu-seiromushi is largely composed of an entrance, a hall, a room, and a kitchen, and each created a different space scene.

Super Duper Burgers Gangnam / Betwin Space Design

Hana Abdel — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Design Statement - Following the brand's slogan, “FAST FOOD BURGERS. SLOW FOOD VALUES,” we intentionally suggested a space where customers can stay with a sense of slowness based on the 'Hyper Slow' concept, so they can enjoy relaxed dining in Seoul, the fast-moving city, and Gangnam, its heart. We created a space to maximize and feel the relaxed sentiment of San Francisco, which aims for a slow life, in a space that combines details and high-tech to create the RETRO FUTURISTIC mood.

Sidiz Flagship Store / Betwin Space Design

Bianca Valentina Roșescu — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 18:00:00 +0000

Brands use space-like media to convey their philosophy to consumers. However, as flagship stores are popping up like mushrooms, it is common for the space to be filled with splendid productions and eye-catchers rather than containing the brand's vision and identity. On the other hand, SIDIZ’s flagship store attracts attention by faithfully capturing the essence and direction of its pursuit based on a solid brand philosophy.

Hyundai Department Pangyo-Uplex / Betwin Space Design

Andreas Luco — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 20:00:00 +0000

The 4th floor of the Hyundai Department Store Pangyo branch has been renewed following The Hyundai Seoul. U-PLEX on the fourth floor is a shopping space for the MZ generation and all customers who enjoy a youthful lifestyle and has been designed as a unique premium space with a sense of YOUNG VIBE. The design concept is TIME COLLAGE, which means a new space-time area, that is, the third space where different elements of the past and present coexist and provides a new trend created by a combination of space and completely different things that customers have never experienced before. It is a space that provides a new luxury mood and a fun and fresh experience that inspires MZ consumers. The space consists of the main building, a mall, and an iconic square that connects the two spaces.

Breathing New Life into Coffee Shop Culture: A Focus on Multi-Functional Café Spaces

Jullia Joson — Sun, 29 May 2022 07:30:00 +0000

Throughout the years, coffee shops and cafés alike have become so much more than just a place to acquire a delicious brew. Since the first coffee shops were established, they have been used as social places to congregate and meeting points for the public. Alongside the development of coffee shops came the ‘coffee culture’, a set of traditions and rules regarding the way cafes are used, and the way these delicious brews are enjoyed.

Ohvenu Cafe / YOLLLLEY STUDIO

Hana Abdel — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 21:00:00 +0000

This space consisting of interior space and exterior terrace with an area of 297㎡ perspectively, is located between tall buildings. At sunset, the interior space is transformed into a monotonous terrace while the setting sun presents a magnificent view through the gap between the buildings surrounding this space. The design of this space which leads to the exterior terrace area along with two bent windows began from the thought that the inside and the outside should not be interpreted as different spaces.

Wine Social / LAB404

Hana Abdel — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 01:00:00 +0000

Wine Social is a cultural space where you can experience wine in comfort through blind tasting of 5 wines curated by a sommelier. The concept is a new world opening up when you open the secret gate, walk a narrow path and enter a white cave and a space under the sky where darkness and light coexist.

Soldout, Musinsa Store / WGNB

Hana Abdel — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 22:00:00 +0000

Soldout is a recently-established limited=edition sneakers platform brand by Musinsa, which is the largest multi-brand online fashion store in South Korea.

Hyundai Premium Outlet SPACE1 Cube / Betwin Space Design

Hana Abdel — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 22:00:00 +0000

Hyundai Premium Outlet Space 1 was opened in Dasan New Town, Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do. It is the first gallery-type outlet in Korea, and adds cultural and artistic elements such as art galleries and parks. Its name “SPACE 1” also took the first letter of “Shopping, Play, Art, Culture, Experience” and added “1” with the meaning of one. The overall design direction was also “Everyone’s Holiday”, establishing its identity as “a holiday for everyone”.

Hannam Berg Rooftop Cafe / YOLLLLEY STUDIO

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 22:00:00 +0000

Discovered as a place that keeps the emotions of Korean housing style in the alley to express modern commercial culture, this is a site where the position of residents and that of those staying for a while are different, and it is too tight for cars and people to pass by.

Café KUO’S & KUO’S Showroom / STUDIO IMA

Hana Abdel — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:00:00 +0000

She is always in a dream

Spacedog Cafe / COV Corp

Andreas Luco — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 02:00:00 +0000

SpaceDog, the space station that made an emergency landing in Yeonhui-dong. It consists of a movie theater, café, studio, and a rooftop terrace based on the theme of an "Emergency Landing on Earth." The movie theater is located on the basement floor, where you will first experience the cosmos. As you move upstairs to the first and second floors, the café will have you travel through space, passing by the iconic asteroid.