Magok: Botanic Park, Ando and Space K
A glasshouse lake garden, Tadao Ando's concrete and a gallery by Mecanoo
≈2.5 km · ≈35 min walking · Easy · Gangseo-gu · Start: Magongnaru station · End: Magok station
Seoul's newest district, built in the 2010s near Gimpo Airport, has some of its best recent buildings: the domed glasshouse of Seoul Botanic Park, Tadao Ando's LG Arts Center with its concrete tube gate, and the curving brick gallery of Space K.
Stops
- Seoul Botanic Park (서울식물원)
Seoul's botanic garden, opened in 2019, with a lake garden, wetlands and a large saucer-shaped glasshouse showing plants from 12 cities in tropical and Mediterranean climates. The lake garden is free; the glasshouse is paid. - LG Arts Center Seoul (LG아트센터 서울)
A performing-arts centre designed by Tadao Ando and opened in 2022. A curved concrete 'tube' passage and a glass step-terrace (the Step Gallery) lead in from the botanic park. - Space K Seoul (스페이스K 서울)
A contemporary art museum of the Kolon group, designed by the Dutch practice Mecanoo and opened in 2020, with a curving roof that rises and falls over the galleries.
Best time: A weekday; the glasshouse is quieter, and Space K is closed on Mondays.
Tips
- Five minutes from Magongnaru station on the airport line: good on the way to or from Gimpo or Incheon.
- Space K is closed on Mondays; the botanic glasshouse is closed on Mondays too.
Access
Flat, new streets. Seoul Botanic Park, LG Arts Center and Space K are step-free.