Located in the Hongdae area, the Modern
Design Museum is one of the first design museums in Korea. It opened in March
2008 and exhibits historical records that are dedicated to Korea’s design
development, featuring more than 15,000 items. The items displayed are mostly
from the private collection of Park Arm-Jong, who is a Seonmun University
professor as well as the museum’s director. He has gathered items for over 20
years and has arranged them in such a way that visitors can get a very good
idea of Korea’s modern design history.
Under the theme of “The Big Dipper, 7 stars lighting up the night sky,”
exhibitions are categorized into different periods of time. Section 1:
Inception Stage (Introduction of Modern Western Culture. 1876-1910), Section 2:
Stationary Stage (Slump of Traditional Korean Culture and the Beginning of the Corporate
Era. 1910-1945), Section 3: Incubating Stage (Beginning of Understanding the Utility
of Design. 1945 – 1961), Section 4: Early Developing Stage (1961 – 1976),
Section 5: Developing Stage (Systemizing Design and Development through International
Sports. 1976 – 1988), Section 6: Take-off stage (1988 – 2000), and Section 7:
Maturing stage (2000s and after).
