A Design for Life

While in Seoul last week, Michael and I managed a quick jaunt to three of the Hyundai Card Libraries the city boasts. These small but well-formed private spaces have been created for Hyundai Credit Card holders to provide all the travel, music and design inspiration required to achieve a perfectly-styled life. Members are granted privileged access to a wealth of covetable books, vinyl and travel inspiration – the scope is enough to make your eyes water – all set in suitably aspirational surroundings. A little touch we enjoyed were the toy planes apparently soaring to infinity, in a playful installation we discovered in a map room on entering the Travel Library.At times the atmosphere feels a little reverential and the spaces somewhat staged – but there’s plenty for young, card-holding Koreans to enjoy. Visitors can venture to an ‘Understage’ gig or spin the decks among the vinyl stacks upstairs at the Music library. They can even take a world trip from the comfort of an interactive Google Map ‘chamber’ in the Travel Library – before contemplating the incentives of their generous benefactors over a coffee in one of the cafes. We’ve been told that No4 – the ‘Food Library’ – is coming soon. It will be a first port of call for the team on our next Seoul visit.

Amy | Graphic Design