Wender·Vista
Ansan
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileSouth Korea
south-west of Seoul, on the Yellow Sea coast

Ansan

— — a planned city that grew its own weather.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Ansan was drawn on a map in the 1970s and built quickly through the 1980s, a planned industrial city on the Gyeonggi coast south-west of Seoul. The Multicultural Village around Wongok-dong is the densest immigrant quarter in South Korea. West of town the Sihwa tide embankment runs out to Daebudo, and the mudflats glow at low water. From the studio.

from the studio
Ansan
— bring it home

Ansan, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Ansan

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Ansan is a city of roughly 650,000 in Gyeonggi Province, about 30 kilometres south-west of central Seoul on the Yellow Sea coast. It was developed from a coastal village into a planned industrial city beginning in 1976, formally promoted to city status in 1986, and is one of the southern anchors of the Banwol–Sihwa industrial complex. Seoul Subway Line 4 and the Suin–Bundang Line connect it to the capital. The city sits on the eastern shore of Sihwa Lake and includes the island of Daebudo by way of the tidal embankment.

— informed by Wikipedia — Ansan
— the place neighborhood

The Wongok-dong area, designated Korea's first Multicultural Village Special Zone in 2009, holds roughly 90,000 foreign residents from more than 100 countries. Restaurants run Uzbek, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Russian and Indonesian within the same three blocks. The annual Ansan Multicultural Street Festival, held each May since 2005, fills Multicultural Food Street with parades and music. The district is one of the few neighbourhoods in metropolitan Seoul where Korean is not the most common shop-front language.

— the water

The Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station, completed in 2011 at the mouth of the artificial lake, is the largest tidal power facility in the world by installed capacity at 254 megawatts. The 12.7-kilometre embankment that contains the lake also carries the road out to Daebudo island. At low tide the mudflats beyond the seawall open for kilometres, and clammers walk out from the village of Bangameori. The salt marshes are part of the Ansan Galmoe wetlands.

— where
South Korea · Ansan, Gyeonggi Province
— elevation
15 m · 49 ft
— position
37.3236° N · 126.8219° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
22 km W
Daebudo
tidal island
20 km E
Suwon
provincial capital
35 km N
Incheon
port city
30 km NE
Seoul
capital
N
Ansan
Daebudo
Suwon
Incheon
Seoul
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Ansan — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Ansan is a coastal city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, about 30 kilometres south-west of central Seoul on the Yellow Sea. It is part of the Seoul Capital Area and is served by Seoul Subway Line 4 and the Suin–Bundang Line.

The Wongok-dong neighbourhood was designated Korea's first Multicultural Village Special Zone in 2009. It is home to roughly 90,000 foreign residents from more than 100 countries, drawn by jobs in the Banwol–Sihwa industrial complex.

A 254-megawatt tidal power station at the mouth of Sihwa Lake, completed in 2011. It is the largest tidal power facility in the world by installed capacity and uses a 12.7-kilometre seawall that also carries the road out to Daebudo.

The island is reached by car or bus across the Sihwa tide embankment, about 22 kilometres west of central Ansan. There is no bridge fee. Buses run from Ansan Station; the trip takes roughly 45 minutes outside rush hour.

Ansan was developed as a planned industrial city beginning in 1976 and was promoted to full city status in 1986. The site had been a coastal township called Banwol within Hwaseong and Siheung counties before that.

Walk Multicultural Food Street in Wongok-dong, ride the Daebudo coastline, visit the Gyeonggi Province Memorial Park for the Sewol ferry victims at Hwarang Park, and clam on the mudflats at Bangameori at low tide.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Ansan is a city its people defend with pride, including immigrants who built lives here. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio works well for someone who has lived or worked in the city.

Modern Korean, Japandi, and warm urban-contemporary interiors. The tile's coastal greys and tidal blues sit comfortably with pale woods, paper screens and a single ink-toned accent wall.

Yes. Both lean on muted natural palettes, hand-finished surfaces and a single focal object per wall. The piece is sized and toned to play that focal role rather than crowd a quieter room.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large reads cleanly. For a longer wall, a 4-tile Mural carries from across the room and a 9-tile Mural anchors a full feature wall.

Yes, ordered in Dura Satin or Matte. Both finishes are scratch-resistant and handle steam and splashes well. Keep glossy for drier rooms such as a living room, study or hallway.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. Avoid abrasive sponges and acidic household cleaners. The colour is held inside the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective finish, so day-to-day cleaning is gentle.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is curated and finished by our single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensing, no third-party prints. The art is original to the place and to the studio.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.