The Korea Furniture Museum

Begun as a reconstruction project of a series of traditional Korean houses back in the 1970s, the Korea Furniture Museum grew into a facility of national significance and prominence, expanding to cover 8,000 square meters of land in a prime residential area.

The museum owns over 2,000 pieces of traditional Korean furniture in 10 fully reconstructed buildings. The traditional houses let its visitors experience and gain insight into the domestic lifestyle of Korea’s past, showcasing a complete range of exquisite furniture and interior decorations.

Specializing in collecting, preserving and exhibiting traditional wooden furniture, the museum is only 10 minutes away from central downtown Seoul. Located on top of a hill, the traditional houses of the museum are beautifully integrated with the view of urban, contemporary Seoul and create a harmonic, serene landscape. The museum awaits its official opening soon.

Changdeok Palace

Changdeok palace is one of the five grand palaces built during the Joseon Dynasty. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, inscribed by the UNESCO committee as an “outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design.” The Committee also said the buildings of the palace are “integrated into and harmonized with the natural setting.”

Unlike Gyeongbok palace where its main buildings are arranged in strict architectural topography, the buildings in Changdeok palace are positioned rather freely without a solid rule. Yet that’s the very charm of Changdeok palace. Although it seems like they were disposed without any pre-arranged plans, all the buildings of the palace are strangely and beautifully in harmony with the natural environment surrounding them.

The palace’s garden, commonly known as Biwon, is another charm of this UNESCO designated site. Filled with various pavilions, ponds, trees and oddly shaped stones and rocks, the garden offers a unique experience of the traditional world as well as its harmony with nature.

Among other palaces in Seoul, Changdeok palace is the place to go if one wants to gain insights into Korea’s history while enjoying the nature at the same time.

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art

Located on the gentle slope of Namsan in Seoul, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art showcases Korean artwork as well as contemporary pieces by both Korean and foreign artists. It is also close to the National Museum of Korea, where the G20 summit leaders and their spouses will be welcomed by Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak and his wife, Kim Yoon-ok.

The museum’s composite cultural complex made up of three buildings was specially designed by three world-renowned architects, Jean Nouvel, Mario Botta and Rem Koolhaas. They built the complex inspired by Korea’s traditional ceramic art, yet using the latest architectural technology and modern materials.

MUSEUM 1 of the complex mainly showcases traditional Korean art, while MUSEUM 2 offers exquisite selections of modern pieces by Korean and foreign artists. The third building is the Samsung Child Education & Culture Center, where children can learn about and appreciate many forms of art in creative ways. The three buildings are meant to reflect the past, present, and future of art and culture.

Leeum offers a pleasant experience to anyone who appreciates art of any kind, regardless of the time period and genre. Its sophisticated atmosphere transcends both cultural and time differences, successfully harmonizing all of their exhibited pieces into one word: art.