At Seoul’s Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams takes on a dramatic new form. Designed by OMA under Shohei Shigematsu, this iteration of Dior’s acclaimed traveling exhibition breaks from the convention of boxed gallery rooms. Instead, the experience orbits a sculptural void inspired by the logic of Korean hanok courtyards, where space is defined by absence, and narrative unfolds through structure.
At the center is The Garden, a twelve-meter-tall reinterpretation of the traditional Korean moon jar. Lined with hanji trees, butterflies, and blossoms created by artist Hyun Joo Kim, the immersive void is more than symbolic, it becomes a vessel for history, air, light, and time. The spatial language of the exhibition draws from local craft as much as from Dior’s legacy, turning architectural gestures into cultural translation.
Rather than applying motifs, OMA embeds Korean material culture into the design itself. Jogakbo patchwork informs the textile ribbon of Dior Legacy, while Lady Dior references the angular red-lacquered cabinetry found in Korean homes. Across the installation, Dior’s atelier sensibilities are fused with Seoul’s vernacular details, creating a subtle but powerful dialogue.
In Colorama, a radial spectrum of color surrounds visitors in mirrored louvers, disorienting and infinite. In The Dior Ateliers, ethereal white toiles, normally hidden within the dressmaking process, are suspended and reflected into an endless field of craftsmanship. The original Paris atelier at 30 Avenue Montaigne is evoked with translucent scrims and archival imagery, blurring the line between memory and scene.
The exhibition builds in theatricality. The Dior Ball turns the brand’s iconic staircase into a sculptural spiral of gowns, while Stars in Dior replaces spotlights with a grid of cables that scatter light like a constellation. J’Adore, the final room designed with artist Jean-Michel Othoniel, leans fully into spectacle, a golden, mirrored world of video, fragrance, and illusion.
Rather than a retrospective in the traditional sense, OMA’s design offers a spatial expression of Dior’s legacy. It’s architecture as storytelling, couture as environment, rooted in place, yet expansive in vision.
