It is not a new thing to say that Korean people are obsessed with beauty, in their own way and in different areas. With their meticulous attention to detail, and my not wanting to compare, I would just say that everything I see in Seoul has a clean, neat lines in design. Take a look at their chopsticks and spoon, and start from there – very elegant, simple and modern.

Main entrance to a business school.
Students’ cafeteria.

Their particular sense of beauty also dictates their architectural aesthetics as well: they would build stairs for decoration purposes only. Can you imagine that? I have to admit the stairs are fascinating.

These stairs actually lead to nowhere. They are there to shape space and to make the building look great.
You walk down these stairs and up the slope over there just to have a leisure stroll and to enjoy the view along the way.
The gorgeous stairs from another angle, looking up.
Entrance to the National Museum of Korea. Do you see the decorative stairs on the left?
Museum stairs up close.

This kind of simple and modern taste in design and architecture is in no way, mind you, a reflection of the complicated hierarchical behaviors displayed in each social circumstances you could witness in South Korea. 🙂