Seoul photo spot

Ewha Campus Complex (ECC)

Urban · Seodaemun-gu

About this place

Ewha Campus Complex (ECC) is the largest underground campus building at any Korean university, designed through an international invited competition by Dominique Perrault, the French architect behind the National Library of France, and completed in 2008. It won the Seoul Architecture Award the same year. Built by excavating what had been the campus running track, it reads from ground level as a gentle green hillside split open by a dramatic V-shaped valley; walking down the ramp between its glass walls, you pass six basement levels holding lecture halls and reading rooms, a concert hall, an arthouse cinema, a bookshop and cafes. The glass facade draws daylight far below grade, and the earth-sheltered structure stays cool in summer and warm in winter. The open-air plaza running from Ewha's main gate down to the complex is one of Seoul's most photographed campus walks, and the building is at its best after dark when the glass walls are lit.

Good to know

Address: 52, Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Ewha Womans University Campus)
Hours: Always open
The campus has no gates, so the plaza running from the main entrance down to the ECC, the V-shaped valley and the outdoor steps can be walked at any hour; after dark, when the glass walls are lit, is often held to be the best time to see the building. The interior is a working university facility, and neither Ewha nor the Seoul Tourism Organization nor the Korea Tourism Organization publishes visiting hours for it. Individual venues on the fourth basement level, among them a concert hall, an arthouse cinema and a bookshop, keep their own schedules and ticketing. The Ewha Welcome Center runs campus tours and a permanent exhibition year-round.

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Transit times by ODsay

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