Starfield Library

Starfield Library is one of those places that went viral and turned out to be worth it. Opened in 2017 in the central atrium of Starfield COEX Mall, the vast underground shopping complex in Gangnam's Samseong-dong, it is an open public library built around three enormous bookcases that climb about thirteen meters from the floor to the skylights, lined with tens of thousands of books and magazines. Escalators and walkways rise beside them, long reading tables run between, and the space is filled with natural light during the day and warm light in the evening. It is a remarkable piece of interior design: the scale makes it feel like a cathedral of reading dropped into a shopping mall, and it has become one of the most photographed interiors in Korea. Despite the selfie crowds, it is a working library. The collection covers humanities, economics, hobbies, travel and more, with foreign-language sections and nearly six hundred Korean and international magazines, and there are tablets for e-books. Anyone can sit and read for free, and on weekday mornings you will find students and office workers doing just that. The very top shelves are largely decorative — no one is climbing up there — but the lower shelves are real, browsable books. Seasonal installations and art exhibits are regularly staged in the atrium, and the library hosts talks and events. Around it, the mall offers everything else: restaurants and a large food court, fashion and cosmetics, a cinema, and the SEA LIFE COEX aquarium a few minutes away. Across the road, the ancient Bongeunsa temple provides a peaceful counterpoint to all the commerce.

The library is free and open every day of the year, from 10:30 in the morning until 10 at night. For photographs with fewer people, come shortly after opening on a weekday; afternoons and weekends are busy, and the main photo spots in front of the shelves can have a stream of people posing. Evening visits have a cozier atmosphere and good lighting. Please be considerate of readers — it is a library, so keep noise down and do not block the walkways for long photo sessions.

The best way to visit is as part of a COEX outing. Combine the library with lunch in the mall, the aquarium if you have children, and a visit to Bongeunsa, whose giant standing Buddha and quiet courtyards are a five-minute walk away. The K-pop and Hallyu attractions around Gangnam are close, and the Gangnam Style statue stands outside the COEX Artium nearby. In the evening, the restaurants and bars of Samseong-dong and Cheongdam are a short taxi ride.

Starfield COEX Mall is directly connected to Samseong Station on Line 2 and Bongeunsa Station on Line 9; the library sits in the center of the mall and is well signed. Allow thirty minutes to an hour for the library itself, longer if you want to sit and read. It is also an excellent rainy-day or heat-wave refuge, since the whole complex is underground and air-conditioned.