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

[scalziand]

Originally Posted by Roadcruiser1

I have spend some time reading history books and studying, and one day I stumbled upon the reason why North Korea even built the Ryugyong. The Ryugyong's construction started in the 1980's. At this time their neighbor China was introducing Capitalism into it's economy. North Korea was influenced a lot by China back then so they wanted Capitalism in their country. The Ryugyong Hotel would have been the star of their Capitalist economy. They wanted foreign businessmen and women to invest in the hotel, to build restaurants, and other things with relaxed oversight in the Ryugyong.

It was all going well until the Tianamen Square protests in the late 1980's. Then they got really fearful. This is the time that they closed up to Capitalism. They were scared of the threat to their rule. Afterwards they just closed their country. The country then went downhill after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It has been in the dumps ever since.

Fascinating. And now the tower is being finished as Kim young-un slowly starts recapitalizing the country with the news that farmers get to keep half their produce.

Still wish the interiors were completed or at least visibly being finished in this update.

[ThatOneGuy]

Does anybody know when the cone part will start?

[Phat Stanley]

He's kidding, right?

[FLBlake]

Originally Posted by ThatOneGuy

Does anybody know when the cone part will start?

lol

[ThatOneGuy]

Another construction pic (sorry for shite quality)


Ryugyong art:

[xboarder84]

Looking at that art you can almost hear the theme to 'Empire Strikes Back' in the background.

[Rizzo]

Those trees look frightening

[Roadcruiser1]

Kind of shocking don't you think?

North Korea Ryugyong 'Hotel of Doom' may open next year


The Ryugyong Hotel has become a symbol of North Korea's economic problems

The 105-storey hotel which dominates the skyline of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, may open next year, 26 years after construction began.

The pyramid-shaped building has become known as the "Hotel of Doom".

The chief executive of the Kempinski group, which will manage the Ryugyong hotel, said only 150 rooms on the top floors would be used as a hotel.

Reto Wittwer said shops, restaurants and offices would eventually open on the lower levels.

Construction on the building began in 1987.

It is the 47th tallest building in the world, at 330m (1,100ft), and has the fifth greatest number of floors, 105.

Abandoned

It was scheduled to be completed in 1989 in time for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students.

But construction was abandoned in 1992 when North Korea suffered an economic crisis.

Its hulking, unfinished presence has long been an embarrassment for the North Korean leadership, analysts say.

It was voted "Worst Building in the History of Mankind" by Esquire magazine in 2008.

The American publication called it "hideously ugly, even by communist standards."

There are reports of poor construction and the use of inferior materials.


Work on the hotel was abandoned for 16 years.

A delegation from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea, which inspected the building almost 15 years ago, concluded it was beyond repair and its lift shafts crooked.

But in 2008 an Egyptian company, Orascom Telecom, which operates a mobile phone network in North Korea, began equipping the building.

'Multi-storey carpark'

It is reported to have spent $180m (£112m) on finishing the hotel's facade.

Mr. Wittwer said the hotel will "partially, probably" open for business next year.

But original plans for 3,000 hotel rooms and three revolving restaurants have been greatly scaled back.

Earlier this year, the Beijing-based company, Koryo Tours, which organises trips to North Korea, was granted a rare glimpse inside the hotel.

Photos taken by the company showed a vast glass-covered lobby and atrium with tiers of bare concrete at its base, resembling a multi-storey car park.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20178985

[ThatOneGuy]

^^ Can't there be a single article being a bit kinder to this poor freaking building? It's been through enough, and now that it finally looks beautiful, the west still spits on it for its location and history. It's ironic to still call it a symbol of North Korea's economic problems if it's pretty much finished now, huh? And why do they always keep referencing that esquire comment that was made before reconstruction even started?

[mrnyc]

maybe because its facade has only been renovated for like 15 minutes? just a guess

[CarlosV]

I think this is one GREAT architectural treasure!!! amazing building

[Lecom]

Typical article:

North Korean "Hotel of Torture" Set To Finally Open

The Death Star set amidst Pyongyang's destitute and slum-filled wasteland cityscape is set to open some time in the forseeable future. The hotel has been under construction for a whole bunch of years until it was put on hold, presumably because they ran out of people for daily sacrifice rituals due to famine and general fail.

However, the hotel is finally nearing completion. Take a look at our horribly out-of-date construction photos that show a derelict concrete hunk, though this is no longer the situation. But who cares, you can't tell the difference - you can't even find North Korea on the map, so you'll eat up whatever sensationalist BS we serve you. On this note, we would also like to remind you how terrible North Korean reporting is, especially contrasted with our fair and balanced reporting with no skewed agenda.

The hotel's official name is "Hotel of Doom". Well, maybe it's not, but we don't care enough to ask North Korea for its actual name, so we'll include some bogus sensationalist name in the headline over and over again so it sticks in your mind. Who cares what the North Koreans think, they're the bad guys. The hotel is clearly beyond repair, as confirmed by some obscure commission 15 years ago, but some shifty Egyptians called "Orascom" decided to finish it anyway. They're probably the bad guys from the whole Tahir Square Revolution business, who, upon losing a battle for evil in their homeland, had to commit evil deeds elsewhere.

This report was brought to you by some media outlet that feels that North Korea is not doing a good enough job of discrediting itself on its own

[DrNest]

Every picture I see of this building makes me think of a roller-coaster ride. I half expect to see some cars hurtling down one of the edges.

[ThatOneGuy]

@ Lecom
Maybe BBC will hire you as their next writer, now.

[Starsky]

Really, I don't understand any defense of it, other than that it may look better than some of the other aging communist monuments in that concentration camp of a nation. If it did have some architectural merit, I would award it some, perhaps it were in some Jetson's style futuristic city. The glass is kind of pretty, but there are thousands of building's that have that aspect covered.

Can you really picture any other use for it other than having some tyrannical, Communist Despot, scheming from the top ala the Emperor's tower on the Death Star, in Return of the Jedi. Probably not, or at least not as good(or evil....muahahaha!

[ThatOneGuy]

If it were in Vegas you would like it.

But it's North Korean, therefore it's bad.

[Lecom]

Originally Posted by ThatOneGuy

If it were in Vegas you would like it.

http://www.visitingdc.com/images/lux...el-address.jpg

+


http://photos.lasvegassun.com/media/...eau01_t618.jpg

=

Originally Posted by Roadcruiser1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20178985

[ThatOneGuy]

Some more pics of the original construction. They were taken from a video still which was probably recorded with a stapler.


Concrete pouring at the top

[gramsjdg]

It was voted "Worst Building in the History of Mankind" by Esquire magazine in 2008.

The American publication called it "hideously ugly, even by communist standards."


That's just because Esquire is owned by Hearst, and so they would of course neglect to mention the REAL "Worst building in the History of Mankind" which as everyone knows, is 4 Times Square AKA "The Conde Nast-y Tower"

The Hearst Tower itself is definitely a contender for fugliest building as well...

Ryugyong Hotel beats both soundly in terms of good looks.

[ThatOneGuy]

'American' is the key word there...