Location: Seoul, South Korea
Capacity: 3,000
Bigger isn’t always better. Obviously, no one told that to Club Octagon. At 3,000 square-metres, it’s the largest club ever built in South Korea. But there’s beauty, style and real substance to go alongside the 3,000-capacity space.
Octagon was the first club in Asia to have a Funktion-One soundsystem, and that beefy audio is brilliantly complemented by the club’s stunning whirlpool lighting. A spinning mass of octagonal lights, each rotating on its own axis, illuminates the sprawling double-level warehouse structure, creating a club environment that’s equal parts Bladerunner futurism and halcyon rave territory.
It’s fair to say the club has come a long way since being a three-story karaoke lounge bar and has become a lynchpin in the South Korean club scene. Octagon has hosted after-parties for Ultra Korea and EDC Korea, and — keen to balance out the musical styles — also the DJ competition, Redbull 3style Korea.
This being clubbing in 2020, though, there’s more to the space than just a killer sound and lighting system. Billied as a “multicultural complex”, the club also offers fine dining from some of the country’s top chefs, curated cocktails from mixologists and a Lounge Stage playing ahead of the curve music.
In fact, the formula has been so successful that Octagon has opened a sister branch in Tokyo, Octagon Japan. Then again, when your mission statement is to create a club founded on “pure love for music and culture”, you probably deserve every success coming your way.