Koffee & Kpop

Located on the first floor of Lotte World Tower is another iconic Blue Bottle location.

According to their instagram:

Introducing our 11th café in South Korea located at Jamsil Lotte World Tower, one of Korea’s most eye-catching and complex cultural structures. Lotte World Tower sustains both traditional and modern architectural features – the skyscraper embraces characteristics of traditional Korean objects while the tower itself is well-known for being one of the highest buildings in the world.

Our cafe design reflects the architecture of the tower itself. Since the tower was shaped like a traditional calligraphy brush, we incorporated many rounded details to match the tower’s uninterrupted curvature. From the bar area where the barista and guest first meet, to tables that encourage coffee and conversation, curved shapes are a central theme throughout.

Another important feature was to let natural sunlight cascade over the café. To accomplish this, many façades were incorporated into the design so guests could fully immerse themselves in the sunlight and the surrounding nature.

I am unsure if photos are allowed inside the cafe, so I’ll post some outside shots here instead, including some of the amazing art installation by Jaume Plensa, “Possibilities.” It features Hangeul letters (the Korean writing system) formed in the shape of a person hugging their knees.

Lotte World Tower is the sixth largest building in the world, at 123 stories. You can visit the observation decks on the top few floors for a fee, as well as a lounge and souvenir shop, and you can even walk across between the top two parts of the building in the Sky Bridge Tour. They clip you in for that, obviously, but some have tried to free-climb the tower, only to be caught.

I’d definitely stop in and try some Blue Bottle if you’re in the area, but I wouldn’t personally seek out this location as it gets incredibly busy and there are too many other things to do in the area than sit and drink good coffee. The way the cafe is designed is gorgeous though, and fits the idea of what the company was going for with the amount of sunlight and soft curves.