Mapping Yongnidan: The Consumption of Space in Yongsan's "Hot Place"

Model @be_byhcot hovers over a burger at a handmade American burger joint on Yongnidan rooftop The 100 Terrace.

In the caffeine-quickened heart of Seoul, where tradition collides with modernity, and the old gives shape to the new, lies the vibrant neighborhood of Yongnidan in the Yongsan District. Once a quaint and overlooked passage, Yongnidan-gil has swiftly transformed into one of the city’s trendiest havens, embodying the dynamic spirit of reinvention, repurposing, and cultural fusion. This vibrant quarter, nestled within the bustling Yongsan District, isn't just a location—it's a veritable experience. Renowned for its eclectic mix of trendy cafes, independent boutiques, and cutting-edge eateries, Yongnidan-Gil is quickly becoming the go-to destination for Seoul's in-the-know crowd.

A Stroll Through Yongsan’s Yesterday

The Yongsan District, nestled in the heart of Seoul, is a a place thick with layers of history and transformation. Its story begins as a strategic military site during the Joseon Dynasty, benefiting from its proximity to the Han River and serving as a crucial point for defense and trade. As Korea faced waves of modernization and external influence, Yongsan evolved, reflecting the country's tumultuous journey through the 20th century.

Yongsan area (with Samgakji at the bottom left) in 1890.

During the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), Yongsan became a pivotal administrative and military hub. The Japanese established significant infrastructure, including railways and military bases, laying the groundwork for its future urban development. This period significantly altered the landscape of Yongsan, introducing new architectural styles and industrial capabilities that would influence its post-colonial evolution.

In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War (1950-1953), Yongsan's role shifted dramatically with the establishment of the Yongsan Garrison by the United States military. This marked the beginning of Yongsan as a symbol of the enduring U.S.-Korea alliance, significantly impacting the district's cultural and economic landscape. The presence of the military base catalyzed a multicultural influx, fostering a blend of eastern and western influences that is still evident today.

An aerial shot of the Yongsan base taken by the US Military right after liberation from Japan in 1945.

As the decades progressed, Yongsan emerged as a bustling international hub. Its once gritty quarters began to transform into thriving centers of commerce and technology. The introduction of the electronics market further positioned Yongsan as a technological and commercial nucleus, attracting visitors from all over Seoul and beyond.

In recent years, the relocation of the Yongsan Garrison has set the stage for a new chapter. Plans for extensive urban renewal and green spaces promise to reshape the district, echoing its historical spirit of adaptation and growth. Amidst these changes, Yongsan stands as a living museum, where remnants of its storied past meet the vibrant pulse of modern Seoul.

Yongnidan’s Rise to Fame

Yongnidan-gil's transformation into a cultural hotspot began in the early 2010s. Around 2013, pioneering entrepreneurs started converting old industrial spaces into trendy cafés and boutique shops, marking the start of its urban renewal. This initial wave was characterized by creative adaptations of existing structures, attracting artists and young professionals drawn to its raw, authentic vibe.

By 2015, Yongnidan-gil had gained a reputation as a melting pot of innovation and style, as more establishments opened, each with unique aesthetics and offerings. This period saw an influx of small galleries and artisan workshops, cementing its status as a neighborhood where tradition met avant-garde creative expressions. The eclectic mix attracted a younger crowd, eager to experience and contribute to the area’s growing cultural fabric.

In 2018, the neighborhood saw a surge in automated, self-portraiture shops, catering to Seoul’s burgeoning aesthetic glitterati. These shops, popular with everyday girls in their twenties, added a distinct visual and participatory element to Yongnidan, transforming it into a street-level social media haven renowned for its photogenic charm.

Model @summerchaerry gives permission to be gazed upon as she takes up space in what is now HER studio.

Mapping the Experience

The allure of Yongnidan is vividly captured through the lens of “mapping” in architectural theory. This concept moves beyond traditional surveys, focusing on the lived experience, spatial logics, and dynamic interactions between humans and their environs. In Yongnidan, like other places, this mapping process can be understood through four key dimensions:

1. Human Experience

The neighborhood is experienced through the eyes of its residents and visitors. By capturing the scale and functionality through photographs and stories, we connect the architecture with its daily human interactions, visualizing how individuals engage with these spaces.

Although we’re ALL already constantly simulating something, some things, all the time, the selfie studios of Korea are phantasmic spaces of fantastic Simulations, in which High Fashion and commodified, Fashion(ed) Desire can meet in a space of play where the artist-consumers can engage in serious aesthetic play that only plays at being serious (such that there is plausible deniability of being marked with the Deadly Sins of Pride or Vanity). Pictures taken by the automated, Panoptical Eye in the Sky camera are generally top-down and records the play of enlittled people under a wide-angle gaze, but we misused the space without paying and shot with our own strobe to reframe that relating with the camera and the viewer of the picture. Here, model @1overemember seems to bleed the viewer red as she poses in killer heels while casting a killer gaze back at the gazer that doesn't let you look for free, i.e. with impunity. 

2. Visual Narrative

Each element along Yongnidan-gil serves as a narrative piece, mapping its ambiance and cultural significance. The juxtaposition of Instafied, otherspaces that invite unspecified uses and practical coffee shops is an enervating contrast that drives the area's evolution.

Model @easyhyun poses outside an eminently Instagrammable interior/exterior at Yongnidan bar Sodam Seoul.

3. Spatial Connection

The intertwining of text and space forms a non-linear understanding of architecture. This interaction echoes how mapping in architectural theory transcends physical dimensions, embracing the essence of the place through various representations.

Model @jinboraa_ poses in front of a local mart that seems to have authetically withstood the tests of time and irrepressible gentrification and now seems to leverage its quaintness as a retro nod to the 1980s and before.

4. Transformative Process

The visual and experiential mapping of Yongnidan documents its transformation from an industrial backwater to a bustling social hub. This evolution is not just in the physical structures but also in the cultural and social dynamics, illustrating how past and present coexist and inform the district’s identity.

A Playground for the Aesthetic Glitterati

Today, Yongnidan is fast becoming a playground for the aesthetic glitterati, but rather than high-profile celebrities, it's mostly everyday girls in their twenties defining this trend. The neighborhood is dotted with automated, self-portraiture shops, where these young women capture and curate their style in playful, dynamic settings. These spaces offer more than just snapshots—they provide a platform for self-expression and creativity, turning Yongnidan into a vibrant canvas that celebrates individuality.

Yet, what's truly capturing the zeitgeist of Yongnidan-Gil—and indeed, all of Seoul—are the self-portrait studios popping up with remarkable frequency. These modern photo havens, such as those found in nearby Hongdae and the pulsating neighborhoods of Gangnam and Itaewon, offer a unique form of self-expression that resonates deeply with Korea’s youth. Here, visitors can don costumes, access professional lighting and props, and capture their essence in stunning detail. It's a celebration of individuality and creativity, allowing each person to become both the muse and the artist.

Moreover, the presence of these self-portrait shops is a marker of consumptive desire for the neighborhood itself and serves as a barometer for its status as Seoul's latest "hot place." These shops symbolize how residents and visitors alike are eager to embed themselves in the cultural narrative of Yongnidan, making tangible their experiences and allowing them to participate actively in shaping the neighborhood's evolving identity.

Each step along Yongnidan-gil offers a snapshot of Seoul’s broader cultural metamorphosis. It’s a place where the aroma of artisanal coffee mingles with the rich history of traditional eateries, and where sleek boutiques sit comfortably alongside century-old shops. The neighborhood’s eclectic vibe is further enriched by its diverse crowd, from local artists to international visitors, all contributing to a unique, inclusive mosaic.

Model @jinboraa_ informs us againthat In architectural mapping, visuals establish a connection between text and space, allowing for a non-linear and more intuitive understanding of the architecture. This reflects how mapping in architectural theory doesn‘t just focus on physical layouts but also on capturing the space’s essence through various forms of representation.

**Yongnidan: A New Cultural Confluence**

Yongnidan’s evolution is a microcosm of Seoul’s creative spirit. By mapping its growth, we appreciate not only its architectural and cultural assets, but also witness a living narrative—a dialogue between past and present, grit and glam. As you flip through this magazine feature, let each image and story guide you through the vibrant tapestry that is Yongnidan, a testament to Yongsan's enduring legacy as a dynamic nucleus of innovation and diversity.

Yongnidan is also a place driven by the kind of “Instafication” of space that typifies other “hot places” in Korea. Like many other global social phenomena, Instafication is not unique to Korean society; indeed, the social force exerted by Instgrammable aesthetics and the powerfully motive, commercial force of hashtags that nearly requires coffeeshop owners and other spatial entrepreneurs to not only provide pretty backdrops for the ‘gram but also to provide a holistic, completely immersive experience for the consumer of the space is irresistable. One cannot ignore the powerful, digitally-driven and photographically phantasmic desire of young, Korean experience hunters.And what’s more, it’s become important to build around that desire when constructing shop interiors — or preferably, entire experiences.

Instafication is a socio-cultural phenomenon where the consumption of experiences and the construction of identity are profoundly shaped by the curation and sharing of content on Instagram and similar social media platforms (bur really, mostly all Instagram). There is a deliberate performance of consumption, a strategic curation of online self-presentation, and the formation of digital communities centered around shared aesthetic sensibilities and experiences. Crucially, Instafication reveals nuanced differences in how "hot places" are consumed and represented, shaped by both generation and gender, influencing individual identity and community formation. On the personal level, instafication of the self happens as Instagram and the photographically-”screened self” becomes a lens of self-interpellation in which a hipped version of the self becomes a main means of presentation to the world.

So goes the concept of "hip-gnosis," (borrowed and adapted from Melissa Blanco-Borelli’s deployment of the term) where the curated online self becomes a site for expressing broader societal forces and aspirations, making self-presentation both performative and the main means of being socially discernible. Put simply, one can only know oneself in it hippest, most digitally curated form. In the end, and taken from both micro and macro directions, Instafication is a discursive process that reveals a blurring of public and private notions of space, and a redefinition of the "right to space" through conspicuous consumption and digitally mediated experiences. And Instafication also reveals how digital communities overlap with physical ones in the traditional sense of real meat bodies coalescing in space as both real-world and digital versions of users geo-tagg and hashtag places into real spaces inside which users meaningfully interact, on both physical and digital planes of existence, while also acting as a potent socio-economic force that transforms the very landscape of cities.

Model @won_what_i_want poses with her coffee in the Black Drum coffee shop right next door to HYBE Entertainment, which has turned this coffee spot into a Mecca for the BTS fanbase.

Whether you’re sipping coffee in a converted space or shooting a fashion magazine-quality selfie, Yongnidan invites you to become part of its unfolding story—a journey mapped through transformation and endless possibilities. This neighborhood isn't just seen through its landscapes but felt through the experiences it offers, constantly redefined by those who roam its streets and contribute to its story.

Model @won_what_i_want outside the Black Drum Coffee shop.