Travel Essentials | Seoul. The Reincarnation of Seoul. With a rush of sweeping cultural transformations, the South Korean capital is becoming the fashionable intrigue of the Far East. IT IS THE NEW CAN’T-MISS BUILDING in the heart of Seoul. Like the bandages on a plastic-surgery patient, the last of the protective fencing has been peeled away to reveal the capital’s latest architectural creation. City Hall, a vintage vestige of South Korea’s ruthless onetime colonial overlord Japan, has been restored. Over a cold stone shoulder, as formidable as the all-powerful mayor who works within, now rises a tsunami of glass and steel, the future poised to obliterate the past in the next 60 seconds. It took four years and five months to build. This is the new face of Seoul. “Pali! Koreans have the reputation for being nose-to-the-grindstone, study-smarties.
South Korea never just apes the West but puts its own topspin on music, fashion, food, technology. That’s just the hardware. Forty years ago, Gangnam (“south of the river”) was farmland. Your daily shot of design, hotspots and travel » Petite Passport. Istanbul’s Cultural Rebirth - Slide Show. The Istanbul Art-Boom Bubble.