For most city dwellers, coffee parlours have become their extended living room, and unsurprisingly, it’s no different in Seoul. In the sprawling South Korean capital numerous venues have mushroomed over the years, and while most are rather generic places lacking style or personality, there’s also a number of design-led establishments that tick all of our boxes. In the latter category falls Dazzle, a new establishment situated a stone’s throw away from Olympic Park in the city’s leafy Bangi-dong neighbourhood. Occupying a 34.5 sqm. (371 sq.ft.) ground floor unit of a low-rise brick structure, the neighbourhood café features an understated interior design by local architecture practice Plain Oddity. The chosen design codes take cues from the café’s name, which is Dazzle, as said, because owner Ji-hye Shin simply aims to dazzle his clientele with good quality coffee. Well, the word ‘dazzle’ basically means ‘to overpower with strong or excessive light’, and that has been captured by a white counter and bench which swirls around the space at different heights, symbolising a wave of sunlight. The meandering piece is paired with an organically shaped table, and vie for attention with a curved and more robust service counter in a similar hue. In contrast, the light fixture which runs along the top of the wall, all along the ceiling, is inspired by a wave of water. Dazzle‘s backdrop, a neutral wall coating of baked and crumpled cylindrical acrylic, paired with flooring of woven fabric, allows the the furnishings to pop. Specially crafted trays of mirror steel laden with delicacies, add a shimmer to the understated setting. The menu at Dazzle lists classic coffee concoctions, teas, including matcha, and last but not least, a range of tasty pastries.
Dazzle
7-16 Wiryeseong-daero 14-gil (Bangi-dong)
05637 Seoul
Mon-Tue 11-8
Thu-Fri 11-8
Sat-Sun 12-9
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
