Situated only a 40-minute car drive south from the urban sprawl that is Seoul, Hwaseong is an affluent satellite city where life is good, and consequently, lifestyle has become increasingly on a par with the nation’s highly sophisticated capital. Indicative of mature local sensibilities is the newly opened o’flower, a new-generation flower retail concept for the city’s savvy inhabitants and the first brick-and-mortar presence of online flower retailer Okkot. The store occupies a 78 sqm. (840 sq.ft.) unit on the premises of Metapolis, a prestigious mixed-use complex marked by four soaring residential towers. The company commissioned Seoul-based architecture practice plainoddity to create an understated setting that would be both accessible and allow shoppers to effortlessly indulge in the exuberance of the flowers on offer. Against an all-blue backdrop, furnishings are few and simple at o’flower and take cues from the shape of laboratory instruments, featuring a large-sized triangular counter in metal with a matching skylight overhead and flanked on one side by sleek shelving crafted from the same material. Behind the shelving sits a communal table with eight chairs and laboratory-inspired light fixtures. Next to the entrance sits another triangular metal counter, but here, it’s painted blue and comes with recessed ceiling in a matching shape, the same laboratory light fixtures, and it’s flanked by metal cooling cabinets.
o’flower
Metapolis, 220 Dongtanjungang-ro (Bansong-dong)
18445 Hwaseong
Daily 10am-10.30pm
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.
