Wender·Vista
Daejeon
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileSouth Korea
in central South Korea, an hour and a half south of Seoul

Daejeon

— — the science city the mountains kept.

— 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

“A city built on a wide field, ringed by low green ridges and threaded by the Gap and Yudeung rivers. Old name Hanbat, the large field. It runs on research now — KAIST, the Daedeok cluster — but the bones are older. Hot springs steam through Yuseong on cold mornings, and Gyeryongsan stands just to the west, exactly where it always has. *from the studio*

from the studio
Daejeon
— bring it home

Daejeon, 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 Daejeon

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

Daejeon sits at the geographic centre of South Korea, roughly 140 kilometres south of Seoul, in a basin where the Gap and Yudeung rivers meet before joining the Geum. The metropolitan population is about 1.45 million, making it the country's fifth-largest city. Its older name, Hanbat, means large field, and that flatness is why the rail lines crossed here in the early twentieth century. Gyeryongsan National Park rises to the west, a granite ridge that has held religious weight in Korean tradition for centuries.

— informed by Wikipedia — Daejeon
— the visit

Yuseong, in the northwest of the city, is the hot-spring district — public baths have drawn visitors here for centuries, and the water still runs naturally warm. The Daedeok Innopolis research cluster, established in 1973, holds KAIST and dozens of government institutes, and the city hosted the 1993 World Exposition on the site that is now Expo Park. The KTX high-speed train reaches Seoul Station in under an hour, which is why Daejeon reads, increasingly, as a commute away from the capital.

— the air

The basin gives Daejeon four clear seasons and a winter that is colder and drier than the coast. Average January lows sit a few degrees below freezing; July is humid and runs to the low thirties Celsius. Gyeryongsan, fifteen kilometres west, holds snow into March on its north faces and turns crimson and amber through October. The hot springs in Yuseong steam visibly on the cold mornings — the contrast that gave the district its name in the first place.

— where
South Korea · Daejeon Metropolitan City
— position
36.3504° N · 127.3845° 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.
15 km W
Gyeryongsan National Park
national park
25 km N
Sejong
administrative city
35 km NE
Cheongju
city
N
Daejeon
Gyeryongsan National Park
Sejong
Cheongju
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Daejeon sits at the geographic centre of South Korea, about 140 kilometres south of Seoul, in a river basin ringed by low mountains. The KTX high-speed train links it to Seoul Station in roughly an hour.

Daedeok Innopolis, established in 1973 on the city's northern edge, holds KAIST and dozens of government research institutes. The cluster anchors much of South Korea's basic science and aerospace work.

Daejeon translates as large field. The earlier Korean name was Hanbat, with the same meaning, referring to the wide flat basin that made the site useful for the colonial-era rail junction.

Yuseong is Daejeon's hot-spring district, in the northwest of the city. Natural thermal water has drawn bathers for centuries, and several public baths and hotel spas still operate on the springs today.

Gyeryongsan National Park lies about 15 kilometres west of central Daejeon. The granite ridge has held religious significance in Korean Buddhism and folk tradition for centuries and is a regular day-hike from the city.

Daejeon hosted the 1993 World Exposition, the first specialised Expo held in a developing country. The grounds remain as Expo Park, with the Hanbit Tower as the most visible architectural remnant on the skyline.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for customers with family, university, or research-cluster ties to the city. A Coaster Set or Small with a handwritten note from the studio is the most-asked-for format for that recipient.

The piece sits well in Japandi, soft-modern, and warm-minimal rooms. The green-and-grey palette of the ridges reads quiet, so it holds its own next to natural wood and unbleached linen.

Yes. The restrained palette and architectural calm match what is currently called soft-modern Asian or new-Japandi — rooms that lean on stone, paper, and one carefully chosen artwork.

Above a standard sofa or long console, a single Large reads as the centrepiece. For a wider wall, a 4-tile Mural carries the room, and a 9-tile Mural is the full statement piece.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and stand up to steam and splash, so the tile can live above a basin, a backsplash, or inside a shower wall.

A soft microfibre cloth, dry or barely damp with water, is all that is needed. No sprays, no abrasives. The colour lives in the ceramic surface itself, so it will not lift with cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. There is no licensing and no third-party artwork — the eye is Reid's, the work is finished in-house.

— if this one stayed with you

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