Seoul-based designer and artist Rahee Yoon approaches her native city much like her multidisciplinary practice: as a study in contrast, texture, and unexpected connection. Her work spans metalwork, textiles, ceramics, and woodworking, with each medium offering a new way to explore material, form, and function.
Beyond her sun-dappled studio, flower markets, coastlines, and quiet interiors shape Rahee’s Seoul — a city of constant movement balanced by moments of familiarity and nostalgia.
Her guide offers a personal perspective on the places and details that, in her words, “makes almost anything feel possible.”
“Seoul is a city of contrasts; rustic yet sophisticated, rough yet refined, meticulous yet accidental, cold yet beautiful.”
CITY GUIDE: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA AS TOLD BY RAHEE YOON
INSPIRED STRUCTURE | STUDIO 110
“Throughout the day, sunlight slowly moves through the studio, entering from the left-side window in the morning before drifting across the front, right, and back walls, eventually returning toward the entrance.”
In 2017, Rahee founded Studio 110 in Seoul’s historic Four Main Gates district, where she creates objects and functional works through intuition, experimentation, and hands-on making.
Daeho Building, my current studio, is a space that feels nostalgic even though it remains part of my everyday life. The building itself is over 110 years old, making it one of the city’s oldest office buildings.
A QUIET MOMENT | GALLERIES + MUSEUMS
National Museum of Korea
Established in 1945, this is the flagship museum of Korean history and art in South Korea.
Looking at the artifacts left behind by past generations often makes time feel suspended, as though gravity itself has momentarily disappeared.
PKM Gallery
Nestled in the cultural hub of Jongno-gu, PKM was founded in 2001. The gallery works with both established and emerging Korean and international artists.
The exterior of PKM Gallery is especially compelling to me. From afar, it appears to be constructed from long gray bricks, but up close, the façade reveals itself as stacked pieces of gray marble proportioned like bricks.
...a place I quietly visit alone whenever I need to regain energy.
Andeok
AGNE
Onijum
“The North Korean-style food trend is both fascinating and underrated. It’s comforting, delicious, and unlike anything I’ve had before.“
Dekad Park
TASTING TRADITION | DINING
Known for their beef naeng guksu (cold beef noodle soup) and manduguk (dumpling soup). These dumplings are typically stuffed with vegetables and beef, and are eaten on Lunar New year’s Day for good luck and good health throughout the year ahead.
A restaurant where the seasons arrive at the table, expressed through ingredients and IAAC Crafts’ ceramics.
A place where Korean cuisine meets fine dining, underscored by a quiet tension that lingers from start to finish.
A place where I can enjoy food, atmosphere, and coffee with friends.
LOCAL ESCAPES | NATURE
Nature has long been central to Korean culture, with mountains, forests, and coastlines shaping art, poetry, and daily life. Just a 2-hour drive from Seoul, Gangwon-do’s East Sea coastline captures this deep connection between landscape and Korean identity.
Korean minimalist design is heavily inspired by yin and yang; simplicity and harmony with nature. This is reflected in the natural elelments like sotne, wood, and silk often mixed with industrial cures like stainless steel.
AMOMENTO PLUS & AMOMENTO
THE EDIT
A design gallery of collectible furniture, lighting, and decorative arts from designers, artists, and artisans, THE EDIT continually seeks out new perspectives through collaborations with designers and makers.
Two things have long shaped Korean furniture design: the peninsula’s abundance of wood and Korea’s floor-centric way of living. Together, they inspire furniture that is low, functional, and deeply connected to its materials and surroundings.
Express Bus Terminal Flower Wholesale Market
Often symbolizing beauty, seasonality, celebration, and good fortune, flowers are woven into the rhythms of Korean life.
Located on the third floor of the Seoul bus terminal, this unassuming flower market is full of fresh, locally grown seasonal flowers and foliage.
NONFICTION
A fragrance brand that carries both softness and conviction with remarkable balance. After visiting, a quiet sense of refinement seems to linger. The minimal interior is impeccable.
Post Archive Faction [PAF]
“Seoul is a place that feels deeply familiar to me, while constantly revealing unfamiliar moments.“
AMOMENTO offers understated, architectural clothing inspired by everyday experiences and personal expression, with timeless silhouettes and thoughtfully developed textiles.
Founded in Seoul, PAF explores the evolution of clothing through experimental construction, technical functionality, and an ever-evolving approach to uniform.
EVERYDAY INDULGENCES | SHOPPING
As the light passes through works of varying heights, it creates shifting layers and dimensions within the space.
Over time, this movement of light has become part of the studio itself, a quiet, abstract rhythm that continuously transforms the atmosphere and draws my attention day after day.
“Seoul makes almost anything feel possible to me”
ADDRESSES
Studio 110: Daeho Building, Gimsangok-ro, 17 110
Galleries + Museums
PKM Gallery: 40 Samcheong-ro 7-gil, Jongno-gu
National Museum of Korea: 137 Seobinggo-ro, Yongsan-gu
Dining
Andeok (안덕): 18 Jahamun-ro 17-gil, Jongno-gu
AGNE: 2F, 272-12 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Onijum (온지음): 49 Hyoja-ro, 4F, Jongno-gu
Dekad Park: 1F, 55 Jayang-ro 37-gil, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Shopping
Amomento & Amomento Plus: 1-2F, 25 Daesagwan-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Post Archive Faction (PAF): 30 Dasan-ro 20-gil, 1F, Jung-gu
Express Bus Terminal Flower Wholesale Market: 200 Shinbanpo-ro, Seocho-gu
The Edit: 21 Hakdong-ro 33-gil, Gangnam-gu
NONFICTION Hannam: 242 Itaewon-ro, Yongsan-gu
Nature + Day Trips
East Coast, Gangwon-do