Funded by Korea’s top tobacco company, this visually striking building is home to an art-house cinema, a concert space (hosting top indie bands) and galleries that focus on experimental, fringe exhibitions. There’s also a great design shop for gifts on the ground floor. The architect, Bae Dae-yong, called his design the ‘Why Butter Building’ as the pattern of concrete across its glazed facade is said to resemble both butterfly wings and butter spread on toast.
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Top choice in Seoul
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
3.63 MILES
Like a phoenix, Seoul’s premier palace has risen several times from the ashes of destruction. Hordes of tourists have replaced the thousands of government…
4.32 MILES
The World Heritage–listed Changdeokgung is the most beautiful of Seoul's five main palaces. You must join a one-hour guided tour to look around. English…
4.42 MILES
Amid the celebrity-owned apartments on the leafy southern slope of Namsan is Korea's premier art gallery. Beautifully designed and laid-out, it balances…
19.59 MILES
The World Heritage–listed fortress wall that encloses the original town of Suwon is what brings most travellers to the city. Snaking up and down Paldal…
3.12 MILES
One of Seoul's five grand palaces built during the Joseon dynasty, Deoksugung (meaning Palace of Virtuous Longevity) is the only one you can visit in the…
3.73 MILES
This vast and imposing concrete slab of a museum takes visitors on a fascinating journey through Korea's past from prehistory all the way to the Korean…
10.92 MILES
Granite-peak-studded Bukhansan National Park's sweeping mountaintop vistas, maple leaves, rushing streams and remote temples draw over 5 million hikers…
3.22 MILES
This huge museum documents the history of the Korean War (1950–53) using multimedia exhibits and black-and-white documentary footage, along with artefacts…
Nearby Seoul attractions
1. War & Women's Human Rights Museum
0.5 MILES
In Korea the survivors of sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII (known euphemistically as 'comfort women') are respectfully called halmoni …
0.51 MILES
The items displayed on the two floors of this small museum trace the history of modern design in Korea from the 1880s to contemporary times. Not much is…
0.52 MILES
On this hillside park, there are walking trails lined with wildflowers, as well as basketball and badminton courts and other fitness facilities, all well…
0.59 MILES
This extension of the Gyeongui Line Forest Park is a book-themed pathway of bookshops housed in train-carriage-like containers. The street commemorates…
0.61 MILES
This 6.3km park, named for the former Gyeongui Line (on which it was built), is a narrow, long green space that runs along the discarded railroad tracks…
0.68 MILES
Jeoldusan means ‘Beheading Hill’ – this is where up to 2000 Korean Catholics were executed in 1866 following a royal decree, most thrown off the high…
1.19 MILES
A former water-filtration plant on an island in the Han River has been transformed into this award-winning park. The old industrial buildings have been…
1.36 MILES
Home to South Korea’s parliament since 1975, the pleasant grounds here with a fountain and an elaborate hanok (traditional wooden house; used for official…