Love the vibe at South Korea’s first shipping container store the Common Ground near Konkuk University? Recently, another shipping container cluster — the Under Stand Avenue 언더스텐드에비뉴 is garnering attention through word-of-mouth among Seoulites. Located near Seoul Forest Station 서울숲역, this shipping container cluster consists of 115 containers, relatively smaller than the Common Ground, but has much more to offer.
It works as a “creative public culture space” that aims to support teenagers, social entrepreneurs, artists and local vendors. The cluster is divided into various spaces, including the Youth Stand, where it supports teenagers for job training and employment. Likewise, the Mom Stand offers job opportunities for women, as well as healthy home cooking training to fellow mothers.
The Art Stand plays an important role in aiding the artists, from offering a debut stage, to supporting cultural events. The Power Stand is to assist new startups in starting their own business, including consulting, mentoring, technical support, as well as a cool co-working space for rent.
For visitors like us, you may find interesting products and designer goods at the Open Stand and the Social Stand. Open Stand is a platform to showcase products from young and talented designers, as well as artists’ work. I found a really comfortable designer shoe label by two young ladies, and their tailor-made shoes are simply amazing. I am thinking of getting a pair or two for myself soon!
The Social Stand, however, is a space where the community sets up social entrepreneurs’ trade fairs, farmers markets, with the aim to introduce eco-friendly products and lifestyle gadgets that “make a difference in life”. I got my mum some handmade soap made from organic kale, lettuce and basil from Farmplayground 동구밭. The packaging, price and product are all up to satisfactory.
I was there on a weekday afternoon. It was a little quiet compared to Common Ground, but the majority of the visitors were local. What I like about this place is that it is not only about attracting foreigners and making an extreme profit out of it but a comprehensive space that serves various purposes from buying local, to workshops, events, exhibition and even education, which makes the space brimming with charm.
Similar to Common Ground, most of the restaurants and cafe are located on the 2nd-floor terrace. I didn’t dine in there as I have plans elsewhere. Overall, this is a very local space to check out and support, if you’re up to visit a new place in Seoul. It gives off some sense of local uniqueness, which I find very attractive. It is definitely a trendy place to visit in Seoul in 2017!
The community takes effort in organising various event each month. You may check out their official website below at the contact details section below for event listing. They do not have the info in English though, the English tabs will give you a certain idea of what’s going on there.
The cluster is not very big to explore. You might spend about 30 minutes to 2 hours here, depending on your interest level in the activities, products, exhibition and performances offered here. I’ll recommend you to stop by before visiting the Seoul Forest which is famous for its Cherry Blossom in Spring, or just check out the nostalgic and beautiful Seongsu neighbourhood, where the hipsters of Seoul are currently hanging out at.
Contact Details:
Under Stand Avenue 언더스텐드에비뉴
63,Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Bundang Line K211 Seoul Forest Station, Exit 3)
서울 성동구 왕십리로 63 (성수동 1가 685-704)
Directions:
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