PYONGYANG | Ryugyong Hotel - Reconstruction | 1,083 FT / 330 M | 105 FLOORS

[BrandonJXN]

I have a question (might be impossible though): Does anyone have any pictures of this thing actually under construction?

[NYC4Life]

The cladding is looking great, but soon enough will be covered with giant portraits of the Great Dear Leader.

[SD_Phil]

Anyone else going to miss the concrete brutalist shell? I really like the (nearly) finished version but the shell had, for reasons I don't fully understand, really grown on me.

[Roadcruiser1]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8299319...83372/sizes/l/

A bit old but it shows the cladding on the second side

And this one shows both the second and third side.

Also if you look carefully you could see they are actually repairing the concrete

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8299319...n/photostream/

If you want future info:

Dozens of Egyptian engineers and some 2,000 local workers are working on the Ryugyong project, which Orascom's chief operating officer Khaled Bichara tells the BBC is "progressing well", despite reported problems with suspect concrete and misaligned lift shafts.

"There have been no issues that have caused us too much trouble," Mr Bichara says. "Most of the work at the moment is coverage of different areas of the building. The first job is to finish the outside - you can't work on the insides until the outside is covered.

"You can see that we have already completed the top of the building where the revolving restaurant will be. After 2010, that's when it will be fully safe to start building from the inside."

How the building will be divided up is not yet finalised the company says, but it will be a mixture of hotel accommodation, apartments and business facilities. Antennae and equipment for Orascom's mobile network will nestle at the very top.

Mr Bichara denies reports that the company's exclusive access to North Korea's fledgling telecoms market is directly linked to the completion of the hotel.

But he says the job is a way of planting a rather tall flag in the ground. "We haven't been given a deadline, we are not tied into doing it by a certain time," he said.

"But when you work in a market like this, where we cannot sponsor things, a project of this kind is good to do - it's word of mouth advertising for us, it builds good rapport with the people - on its own it's a great symbol, one which cements our investment."

The rest of the story is here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8306697.stm

[Spud]

Originally Posted by Roadcruiser1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8299319...83372/sizes/l/

A bit old but it shows the cladding on the second side

And this one shows both the second and third side.

Also if you look carefully you could see they are actually repairing the concrete

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8299319...n/photostream/

If you want future info:



The rest of the story is here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8306697.stm

If you look closely at the first shot you can see the shadow made by the concrete in the centre of the building. The shadow is pretty bent. Looks like a motor-cross course up there. I'd hate to be anywhere near that building in an earthquake. God only knows what dodgy stuff went on there while they were building the structure.

[red-paladin]

The article says only two sides are being clad: "At the Ryugyong itself, an army of labourers has been fixing gleaming glass panels, covering the grey concrete on two sides of the skyscraper and the rings that crown it."

[Roadcruiser1]

It's an old article from 2009. There are pictures that shows the 3rd side is now being cladded. Also the article didn't mention that only two sides would be cladded. It mentions that 2 sides are being cladded as of the time.

[Canadian_Bacon]

I may have missed it in this thread... But how can they finish this building. I thought it was built with shoddy concrete and materials so they had doubts about if the building could even stand for any legth of time, and it was too dangerous to finish it.

Unless that was all just rumours. Either way it will look pretty cool when it's complete.

[muppet]

concrete is actually very durable, it may crumble or stain on the surface but it lasts longer than many stone buildings - watch Earth After Us, a doc on what happens if all humans disappeared. It would take hundreds or thousands of years (barring earthquakes) before the buildings would fall and disappear.

The coliseum is also a good example of an open concrete building.

[Roadcruiser1]

Or a better documentary would be Life After People from the history channel. Even naval ships would last thousands of years if they have a way. Sure they might rust and everything but they would survive for a long time. The Ryugyong Hotel was abandoned for only 14 years. That is too short of a lifetime for a building to just collaspe. Most modern skyscrapers even without glass could last 150 years.

[Spud]

Originally Posted by muppet

concrete is actually very durable, it may crumble or stain on the surface but it lasts longer than many stone buildings - watch Earth After Us, a doc on what happens if all humans disappeared. It would take hundreds or thousands of years (barring earthquakes) before the buildings would fall and disappear.

The coliseum is also a good example of an open concrete building.

Yes it is very durable, however if it is badly mixed, placed or specified it can deteriorate pretty quickly. For example: If the reinforcing steel is placed too close to the surface that has been exposed to the elements it can rust, expand and cause the concrete to crack. Also if the concrete doesn't have enough cement in it, uses salty or dirty water, is allowed to freeze while curing, is allowed to dry out too fast while curing, is allowed to get too hot while curing or uses poorly graded aggregate it can perform very poorly.

The placing of the concrete as I mentioned before is also very important. Not enough vibration and the concrete will be excessively aerated. From memory the equation for this is something like for every 1% of air there is a 5% loss of strength. Too much vibration and you get "grout loss". This is where a concrete slurry escapes through the bottom of the formwork leaving a bony mix.

Don't forget that also the reinforcing steel has to be properly placed. There are many cases in recent times where structures in certain countries have failed after a relatively mild earthquake due to sometimes non-existent steel. (Builders in some cases have removed steel from each floor just after it was inspected and then placed it in the next floor to repeat the process.) Also the steel must be bent correctly, must be tied correctly, of the right tensile grade and in most cases must not be gas cut.

I'm sure there are some very able builders in North Korea, but my opinion is that despite their best intentions and efforts it is highly likely that due to the political and economic situation some of this structure has been built to a low standard, which has probably been made worse by the structure being exposed to the elements for so long.

It's actually a great looking tower, but I wouldn't walk within 500 metres of it!

[Troubadour]

Holy crap, dude. I didn't know that thing was three-sided. On close inspection, I think it's a little too '80s for me, but it's still pretty amazing. Too bad it's in a brutal totalitarian state.

[Roadcruiser1]

Though it uses the modernized style of architecture very similar to the architectural style used for the former World Trade Center. Just in case I am wondering how they will light up the building at night with the energy in short supply. If the building ever gets used wouldn't it go through rolling blackouts.

[mfastx]

Just amazing how awesome this building is.

[Chicago103]

Does anyone know how tall that antenna/spire is going to make the total height of the structure?

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

God im surprised...i still hate it....

[Roadcruiser1]

I don't know. All they said on BBC was that Orascom was willing to finish up the building and take ownership of it for North Korean 3g service. Orascom mentions they will finish the building for the usage of hotel, residential, offices, and telecommunications. Though even though they mentioned an antenna/spire they never mentioned the height of it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/4719706849/

I like the glass on this picture.

[Traynor]

I love it!

It soooooo belongs in Las Vegas. This has casino hotel written all over it.

[NYC4Life]

This is as close to modernization we will see from North Korea. Impressive looking tower, very bad location.

[Chicago103]

Originally Posted by Traynor

I love it!

It soooooo belongs in Las Vegas. This has casino hotel written all over it.

A casino in North Korea?! Will there be a shrine where you can pray to Kim Jong Ill for good luck before hitting the slots or tables?

One thing I always imagined for this building is the top few floors above the revolving restaurants at the very apex of the building could be a multistory Presidential suite or apartment.