Highlights from a design trip to Seoul

Few cities in the world can claim to be as entrenched in design as Seoul. Since winning the coveted 'World Design Capital 2010' title, the metropolis has earned its design credo through relentless displays of dedication. Design is clearly a way of life (and a mandate) for the city, with Mayor Oh Se-Hoon, and the Seoul Municipal Government, leading the charge. No stone has been left unturned as the city's landmarks, including inner city canals, river banks and the numerous bridges that connect Seoul's northern cultural stronghold with its southern commercial centre, are made over. Despite its 2013 completion date, even Zaha Hadid's vision for the Dongdaemun Design Plaza is starting to take shape.

This mantra of 'Design for All' is also the motto of this year's Seoul Design Fair (17 September to 7 October) - a 21-day exhibition that can be freely accessed by all. Held at its usual home in Jamsil Olympic Stadium, the annual design festival (now in its 3rd year) is not only aimed at designers and industry experts, but also hopes to develop an eye and taste for design amongst the city's inhabitants. The fairground, which features pavilions designed by Alessandro Mendini, Daniel Libeskind and Korea's own Kim Seok-Chul, is divided into areas that include exhibitions of local and international design, and the results of the nationwide Bicycle Design Competition, which was open to both designers and the general public.

Despite the overarching focus on design and architectural modernisation, Seoul has managed to retain a lot of its heritage and charm. During our six-day visit, we spotted numerous instances where national tradition and the city's future exist in a harmony that's distinctly its own.

Ewha Women's University, a gently descending 'campus valley', designed by Dominique Perrault

The much-improved Cheonggyecheon, a 6km-long creek that was once covered with roads and concrete, but is now a popular lunchtime spot in Seoul's city centre

Graphic design/stationery company MMMG's shopfront in Garosugil

Koreans certainly understand the importance of grooming

Haechi, a mythical horned-lion, has been the symbol of Seoul since 2008

Zaha Hadid's vision for Dongdaemun Design Plaza begins to take shape

The neighbouring Dongdaemun History and Culture Park, which houses a museum containing relics from the DDP site

The culture park also contains a memorial to the site's heritage as a sports stadium, including posters and ticket stubs

A ticket printing system from days gone by

City Keukdong apartments, constructed at a 22 degree angle

Rainbow-painted grates as part of a public art exhibition

Bright and early at the Seoul Design Fair, held at Jamsil Sports Complex

Seoulites get creative with their design maps to beat the heat

Side table and dining table by Byung-Hoon Choi

Books created by Chinese graphic designer Lu Jingren

An elegant back-rest for easy reclining, by Chinese designer, Shao Fan

Colourful cups and bowls by Mi Hyun Jo

'Dye the Blue' ceramics, by Hee-Chang Shin

Sketches and renderings by various designers, showing their interpretations of the wooden side table, a fixture in traditional Korean furniture

A selection of traditional side tables or 'soban'

The mini-exhibition of modern soban, created by Karim Rashid, Masayuki Kurokawa and Jihoon Ha

One of the prototypes submitted to the fair's Bicycle Design Competition, which invited participants to create a vehicle that would suit the needs of the modern commuter

Examples of public bike schemes from towns in South Korea

Bookshelf by Kyo-Hyun Shin, a graduate from the Industrial Design department at Sangmyung University

A three-level suitcase, as imagined by Bo-Hyun Hwang, also from the Industrial Design department at Sangmyung University

An architectural model by a graduate from Seoul Women's University

An architectural model by a graduate from Seoul Women's University

An architectural model by a graduate from Seoul Women's University

Interior design and architecture concept from graduates at Duksung Women's University

Straightforward signage serves weary shoppers well at Lotte department store

Contemporary art takes to the streets of Gahoe-dong

Traditional Korean pharmacy on the edge of Bukchon, Seoul's most elite neighbourhood, filled with traditional houses or 'hanok'

A decorative utility box in Bukchon

A traditional wood and paper window in a hanok

Iron door handle

Traditional packaging of Korean medicine, displayed in the Choonwondang Museum of Korean Medicine

Vintage newspaper adverts for Korean medicine

Vintage medicine manuals

Vintage prescription envelopes from Choonwondang Institute of Korean Medicine, founded in 1847

Architectural model by Doojin Hwang Architects for the current Choonwondang Institute

Finn Juhl exhibition at the Aa Design Museum in Samcheong-dong

The Aa Design Museum's café

A police station sign

Your average road sign in Korea

Korean graffiti

Very large feet outside the West 19th café in Samcheong-dong

The evolution of biscuits

Food for dogs (not dogs as food)

An little snapshot of Korean life

A striking lobby at Kukje Gallery

The 'Oblique Strategies' exhibition, featuring works from MeeNa Park, Donghee Koo and Sasa[44]

Roni Horn's 'Two Pink Tons' hold court at Kukje's Space 2

Hague Yang's first solo exhibition, 'Voice Over Three' at Artsonje Center

A detail from Yang's 'Trustworthies', a collage made from discarded envelopes and bank cards

Louise Bourgeois sculptures outside Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art