건축하는 카페 (construction cafe), Gangnam

Greetings, sons! Allow me to introduce you to a cafe in Gangnam that I visited a few months ago but completely forgot to write about: 건축하는 카페 (translates roughly to "cafe that builds"). This little gem is located in the basement of the Boutique Monaco, a building which itself is quite an architectural piece of art, and its theme, as you may have guessed, is building and construction. Korea is no stranger to cafes with kooky themes, but I'd say this one is definitely unique.

So... To be honest, I know absolutely nothing about building, or construction, but I quite like this cafe for two reasons:

1. The atmosphere is quiet and calm, perfect for a spot of reading or studying solo.

2. It has very un-Gangnam-like prices, which razzles my berries immensely since I am such a frugal miser.

If you happen to be into architecture, building, or even just design in general, you might fancy this place based purely on its theme and you can treat the above as added bonuses. w00t!

To get to the cafe, first take the escalators down to the basement:

The cafe is split into two sections. You'll see one part on your right where drinks are ordered and whipped up:

Extremely reasonable prices :D

Around this part of the cafe are plenty of artsy things to ogle and books free for reading:

I love how they created this using old desktop towers :D

View of the other half of the cafe.

Aaaaand onto the second section of the cafe, where the construction fun begins! 

To get in, push on the door with the sign that says "entry" in Korean. It's just like entering a real building site:

The interior is extremely spacious and dotted with plenty of construction-related objects to admire, along with some random ones:

Check out that grill in the centre. So random! XD

 

I'm not sure why, but I grew really attached to this gas meter that was lying on top of our table:

Myyyy precioussssss.

Since Gangnam is quite a busy place, this cafe brings a welcome change of pace and makes a great place to hang out when you need somewhere quiet to take a break. Added bonus that it's also in the same building as Caffe Inbus (the Jimi Hendrix/bus cafe), so you can do a nice spot of cafe hopping if you wish :D

건축하는 카페, Gangnam

Address: 서울시 서초구 서초동 1316-5 (1316-5 Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul)
Directions: From Gangnam Station, exit 9, walk straight for 4 blocks. The Boutique Monaco will be on your right and the escalators are just past Caffe Inbus.