The monolithic concrete pyramid that has loomed over Pyongyang, North Korea since topping out in 1992 is finally getting a face lift. Glass panels and construction netting have been attached to the 105-story Ryugyong Hotel over the last few months, apparently the result of a bid by an Egyptian telecommunications company to develop North Korea’s first publicly-accessible cellular telephone network. Cell phones were previously only available to government officials of the communist country.
Rumors of shoddy concrete and subpar construction methods have plagued the tower for years, but the latest photos seem to show newer concrete on the numerous balconies that protrude from the sloping edges of the 24th tallest building in the world. A government source recently confirmed that the hotel will be completed by 2012 – just in time to celebrate the 100th birthday of Kim II Sung.
While this structure has been labeled “The Worst Building In The History Of Mankind” by Esquire magazine, I think it looks rather attractive in the following render.
I’ve never found that building to be ugly. I never judge something that has not been finished. Of course, it didn’t look pretty since it has been abandoned for so long. But trust our corn fed friends from the USA to find anything so to criticize everything that doesn’t look like a McDonalds or that papercraft looking Disney castle.
the structure itself although unorthodox in design has a esoteric
appeal although the small windows makes this building look outdated
the finished conception above is exactly how one would go about
salvaging this Ghost scraper,the all blue glass face of this
building is exactly what was needed,this is a 1000 percent
improvement,the finished rendering above should be the goal
and not be deviated from,if this ghost scraper can be brought into
the 21st century,iam happy that they are not going to demo it,
because the building itself is somewhat of a Monolith like
something out of that movie 2001…..looking good
Antipopulism: Your hatred, fear, and jealousy of the USA has resulted in tragically clouded aesthetic judgment. Your assumption that one of the largest, most culturally-diverse populations the world has ever known could be summarised with terms lifted from stock faux-radical bigotry manuals is moronic in the extreme. (Though I must admit, your snotty, dismissive use of the term “corn fed” did elicit a momentary snort of laughter–how obvious it is that you know absolutely NOTHING about the culture you are criticising.) Even if one were to assume that citizens of the USA think of McDonald’s and Disney as cultural and architectural touchstones (an idea that only an ignoramus with the usual indirect sources of information would hold to), your argument concerning the Ryugyong Hotel would *still* seem ridiculous. Heavy, Soviet-era monolithic architecture might hold a certain monolithic appeal (indeed, I detect a certain odd romance with this style lurking beneath the surface of many contemporary building projects in the USA). The Ryugyong Hotel, however, is a failure on almost every aesthetic scale I can thing of. It is certainly the only structure I have ever seen that manages to be both utterly unimaginative and positively terrifying. As a hotel–and especially as a titanic hotel built in a location without the infrastructure or tourism to support it–it was an utter and complete failure before it ever left the architect’s drawing-board. Had it been conceived of as a warning to future generations of, say, a high-level radioactive waste dump, it might be considered successful. As it is and ever well be though, the Ryugyong is an Orwellian monolith–an ominous, even evil-looking symbol of the North Korean dictatorship’s complete lack of imagination and their failed, freedom-stifling, murderous policies. The PEOPLE of North Korea deserve far better. And the people of the USA deserve an apology from the likes of you.