The Worst Building in the History of Mankind

[baseline bum]

The Worst Building in the History of Mankind (http://www.esquire.com/the-side/DESIGN/worst-hotel-ever-012808)

It's the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea, where the world's 22nd largest skyscraper has been vacant for two decades and is likely to stay that way ... forever.

By Eva Hagberg

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/11/ryugyong-hotel-lg.jpg

A picture doesn't lie -- the one-hundred-and-five-story Ryugyong Hotel is hideous, dominating the Pyongyang skyline like some twisted North Korean version of Cinderella's castle. Not that you would be able to tell from the official government photos of the North Korean capital -- the hotel is such an eyesore, the Communist regime routinely covers it up, airbrushing it to make it look like it's open -- or Photoshopping or cropping it out of pictures completely.

Even by Communist standards, the 3,000-room hotel is hideously ugly, a series of three gray 328-foot long concrete wings shaped into a steep pyramid. With 75 degree sides that rise to an apex of 1,083 feet, the Hotel of Doom (also known as the Phantom Hotel and the Phantom Pyramid) isn't the just the worst designed building in the world -- it's the worst-built building, too. In 1987, Baikdoosan Architects and Engineers put its first shovel into the ground and more than twenty years later, after North Korea poured more than two percent of its gross domestic product to building this monster, the hotel remains unoccupied, unopened, and unfinished.

0r0fM31BXKk
A bootleg video of the tower from YouTube. How the brazen videographer escaped without being arrested remains a mystery.

Construction on the Hotel of Doom stopped in 1992 (rumors maintain that North Korea ran out of money, or that the building was engineered improperly and can never be occupied) and has never started back up, which shouldn't come as a shock. After all, who the hell travels to beautiful downtown Pyongyang? It would make sense if the hotel were in South Korea, where Americans are allowed to travel and where projects like the Busan Lotte Tower and the Lotte Super Tower now rise thousands of feet above the formerly modest skyline.

With Pyongyang's official population said to range between 2.5 million and 3.8 million (official numbers are not made available by the North Korean government), the Ryugyong Hotel -- the 22nd largest skyscraper in the world -- is a failure on an enormous scale. To put it in context, imagine if the John Hancock Center (1,127 feet tall) in Chicago (population 2.9 million) was not only completely vacant, but unfinished with zero hope of ever being completed.

You may not be able to actually live there, but the building now has its own virtual real estate managers, Richard Dank and Andreas Gruber, a pair of German architects and self-described "custodians of the pyramid's diverse manifestations." The duo run Ryugyong.org, which they describe as an "experimental collaborative online architecture site." Sad you can't visit the building in real life? Log on, view the detailed 3-D models, and "claim" a subsection for yourself.

lEjqnTcdkXY
The Demolition S How video.

The Demolition S How video by the Italian architects Extraneo might not be as conceptual as Ryugyong.org, but this piece of architectural porn sure is fun to watch. The video (which you can watch above) was mounted as part of the exhibition Fiction Pyongyang, curated in part by Stefano Boeri, who also collected 120 speculative designs for the hotel in the June 2006 domus magazine. The designs, he says, "have forced it to reveal its icy nature, its irresistible fascination as a fragile alien meteorite." The worst building in the world is also, we now know, "the only built piece of science fiction in the contemporary world." And it's true. Demolition S How is all Blade Runner-style flying ads and soaring concrete, and the video reminds us that the worst building in the world is the closest humans have come to building a Death Star.

[T Park]

So no one knows exactly why construction stopped?

It may be ugly, but, if its structurely sound, I don't see why another company couldn't finish it.

Oh yeah, Kim Jong il is a fuckin whacko.

Still though, finish it and open it.

[baseline bum]

http://a.abcnews.com/images/site/printlogo.jpg

Pyongyang: Home to the Tallest Hotel in the World That Could, but Will Never Be (http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2590901)
The Ryugyong Hotel, a 105-Story Building Started in the Late '80s, Was Never Finished
By DAN BECKMANN

Oct. 23, 2006 —

Pyongyang's Ryugyong Hotel, a structure that if it were ever possible to finish would have been the world's tallest hotel, is symbolic of the state of North Korea itself.

The building is incredibly ambitious and very secretive. There are many conflicting versions of its story from the few you can find to talk about it.

One part that's almost always never left out is the assertion that one day the magnificent structure may just have to come down because whatever is holding it together has got to be faulty.

Yet it still continues to stand in staunch defiance of all outside it.

"You know the scene in 'The Wizard of Oz'?" asked Mike Chinoy, a former Asian correspondent for CNN and now the Edgarton fellow at the Pacific Council on Foreign Policy.

"Every time I've driven to [North Korea's capital] Pyongyang, there's this thing that's ticking up from way in the distance and it's so out of sync with everything that it becomes a great metaphor for North Korea in many ways."

Those interviewed had visited Pyongyang since the Ryugyong Hotel was started in the late '80s.

They all said virtually the same thing: As an outsider you just can't avoid asking what that humongous monstrosity is, but it's almost impossible to get anyone to talk about it -- let alone secure a hotel reservation for the night.

"The hotel's pretty incredible to see, and it does dominate the skyline," said Andrew Morse, an ABC News producer who's seen the building on his trips to Pyongyang.

"My Korean minders weren't keen to talk about it, so I don't know much, but I can definitely confirm that it exists," Morse said.

What Is and What Will Never Be

What you can see in a picture is the outline of a great pyramid with jetsonian revolving disks at the top.

There are no windows, pipes, lighting, fixtures, or the North Korean version of the AAA seal of approval hanging out front.

Nothing is inside the place but black shadows. A crane still sits at the top.

Emporis, an architectural information reporting firm, says the building is 105 stories tall.

If it was ever finished, it would be taller than any building in the United States.

It would also be the seventh-tallest building in the world to be used exclusively to house a five-star hotel of the highest luxury, with seven revolving restaurants on the top -- all for a country that today, as ABC News' Diane Sawyer reports, has a mere 300 foreigners within its borders.

And no, she did not stay at this hotel.

The Grandest of Hotels Built for Whom Exactly?

In a communist country that recently survived a famine in which it is estimated that more than 1 million people died, why was there ever a need for such massive luxury accommodations?

Depending upon which story you believe, the building may have been started to counter a massive South Korean-built hotel project in Singapore.

Another suggestion is that the government was attempting to build it to spark some tourism around the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, but ran out of time to get it done and just left it.

"I first saw it there in 1989," Chinoy said. "It was essentially the way it was now."

The most plausible speculation into why it was never finished comes from the lack of just about all the things you need to build a building -- let alone a monumental one -- such as raw materials, energy and well, money.

One of the more interesting tales is that there were so many problems with the project that they began to snowball because no one had the guts to report them to the "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung. :lol


The story goes that the problems eventually became insurmountable and that the dysfunction was eventually made obvious without a word being spoken.

Ryugyong Hotel: Looming Symbol of North Korea Itself

There's some mutterings of finding an "outside developer" with $300 million to come in and save the day, but as Emporis reports, the cement used in the structure is not safe enough to continue the project and is presently crumbling.

So even if an outside developer wanted to finish the job, it would have to first start by knocking it down and starting over from scratch.

At the moment, it appears that the present-day leader, Kim Jong Il, has other more important things on his mind, too much pride, or a lack of resources to tear it town.

In the meantime, a good solution to the problem was forged in the uniquely North Korean way: The landmark has been taken off printed maps, and now everyone just changes the subject whenever it's mentioned.

"I have a sightseeing guide to North Korea [published in Pyongyang] in my hands," Morse said. "And there's no mention of it, and it's not on the maps in there."

They've done what Harry Houdini could have only dreamed: They've made an 105-story building, the largest of anything around, completely disappear. Presto!

"Kim Il Sung had this enormous crater or growth on the left side of his neck. It was enormous," Chinoy said.

"It was never photographed, and on occasions when I met him and we were allowed to shoot, we always had to be positioned in such a way. & It was something you couldn't mention. It's just another one of these oddities of which there are so many in North Korea," Chinoy said.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

[timvp]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Dprk_pyongyang_hotel_rugen_05_s.jpg

PWNED.

[peewee's lovechild]

It looks like an alien penis.

[peewee's lovechild]

Or, one of the Star Wars battleships.

[peewee's lovechild]

I'll go with the latter.

[E20]

Looks like a roller coster.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I thought this thread was about the Alamodome.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

I thought this thread was about the Alamodome.

:lol

[T Park]

I thought this thread was about the Alamodome.

Hey it kept the Spurs here, so it served its purpose.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

http://watersecretsblog.com/archives/united-nations-headquarters.jpg

[Slydragon]

Looks like a line graph to me.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i196/Slydrag0n/line.jpg

[LaMarcus Bryant]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Dprk_pyongyang_hotel_rugen_05_s.jpg

PWNED.

:lmao

[phyzik]

It looks like the headquarters of some evil super genious like Lex Luthor or something. I bet its full of deadly traps and sharks with lasers.

[sabar]

It looks so authoritarian. I'm surprised there aren't propaganda speakers and scrolling statements on it demanding your loyalty.

[CubanMustGo]

NK is nothing if not authoritarian.

If you get to travel there (very rare for americans) you get to go exactly nowhere without a handler. No casual driving down the road (no car rental period) or walking down the street to meet the common man (should you speak Korean). There is no such thing as an independent tour of NK, you go on a guided tour where you are told what you can and cannot take pictures of.

If you are a resident, you must wear a pin of Kim-Jong Il at all times. No excuses. And OBTW Kim-Il Sung is the president of NK. Don't let the fact that he's been dead years bother you.

[Soul_Patch]

Such a bizzare country that is...i just couldnt fathom that kind of life.

[baseline bum]

NK is nothing if not authoritarian.

If you get to travel there (very rare for americans) you get to go exactly nowhere without a handler. No casual driving down the road (no car rental period) or walking down the street to meet the common man (should you speak Korean). There is no such thing as an independent tour of NK, you go on a guided tour where you are told what you can and cannot take pictures of.

If you are a resident, you must wear a pin of Kim-Jong Il at all times. No excuses. And OBTW Kim-Il Sung is the president of NK. Don't let the fact that he's been dead years bother you.

Kim Il-Sung is the real big brother. I've heard every single thing in North Korea was done by him or Kim Jong-Il. For instance, Kim Il-Sung personally planted the tree at the North/South Korean border that started this big conflict when the US cut it down. Kim Jong-Il personally drafted the designs for the Juche Tower.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Juche_Tower.jpg

I've heard Kim Il-Sung made bikes illegal in Pyongyang because he didn't want anyone leaving town. My step-grandmother fled from there, and will never go back to visit friends or family because she believes she'd be killed.

[Soul_Patch]

I think its ironic that North Korea would build a hotel of that size...considering how much tourism, or lack of, they get.

[j-6]

For anyone curious about life in North Korea, take a look at this.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=82755

[SAtown]

For anyone curious about life in North Korea, take a look at this.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=82755

Wow. Some of those pictures are insane.

[johnsmith]

For anyone curious about life in North Korea, take a look at this.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=82755


That site is fucking cool.

[timvp]

Wow. Some of those pictures are insane.I can't see the pictures :madrun

[Slomo]

I can't see the pictures :madrunhttp://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-1/
http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-2/
http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-3/
http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-4/
http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-5/

[baseline bum]

http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-2/_MG_0201.jpg

Wow... electric fences at the beach in the DPRK.

[timvp]

http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-1/
http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-2/
http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-3/
http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-4/
http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-5/Thanks:)

The check is in the mail . . .

[baseline bum]

Wow, beautiful Pyongyang.

http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-1/_MG_0362.jpg

[baseline bum]

One of the Kim Il-Sung pins all citizens have to wear at all times... this one signifies membership into the political party in North Korea.

http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-3/_MG_0378.jpg

[baseline bum]

How fucked is this regime? Kim Jong-Il portrait in a playhouse

EDIT: I don't want to sound like I'm talking bad about the country and its people. Just a couple of pieces of shit (Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il) who are ruining it.

http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-3/_MG_0445.jpg

[baseline bum]

Shit, guess I can't hotlink the photos. Good thing Slomo doesn't run that server.

[Spurminator]

Recommended viewing:

http://www.amazon.com/State-Mind-Daniel-Gordon/dp/B000C8STLM

[slayermin]

How fucked is this country? Kim Jong-Il portrait in a playhouse

http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-3/_MG_0445.jpg

North Korea is fucked up.

But before some folks on this board begin to label all Koreans the same, there is another country called South Korea. And they are an ally of the United States. Ask any vietnam veteran about the ROK army and what they did in Vietnam.

Both Koreas share the same language and culture but politically, they are polar opposites.

[Extra Stout]

North Korea is fucked up.

But before some folks on this board begin to label all Koreans the same, there is another country called South Korea. And they are an ally of the United States. Ask any vietnam veteran about the ROK army and what they did in Vietnam.

Both Koreas share the same language and culture but politically, they are polar opposites.
Really? You mean that the Communist Paradise doesn't make all those Hyundais and LG HDTV's? Who knew?

[slayermin]

Really? You mean that the Communist Paradise doesn't make all those Hyundais and LG HDTV's? Who knew?

Yeah, really. :rolleyes

North Korea perpetuates a negative image of the Korean people. But there is a positive one in the RoK which is never talked about.

http://cafe3.ktdom.com/vietvet/us/us.htm

[slayermin]

http://www.talkingproud.us/ImagesIntlrelationships/ROKVietnam/NamesDeadMemorial.jpg

http://www.talkingproud.us/International061406.html

"The names of the Korean Killed In Action (KIA) in Vietnam are engraved on black marble stone, classified by units to which the deceased belonged during the Vietnam War, at the Korean War Memorial, Seoul, ROK. Presented by Vietnam Veterans of Korea."

"At their peak, the Koreans had close to 50,000 boots on the ground, the second largest foreign force to fight for the RVN. . All together, over 300,000 South Koreans served throughout the war. All ROK forces were volunteers. About 5,000 of them died in combat in Vietnam, and nearly 11,000 were injured or wounded."

[Extra Stout]

Yeah, really. :rolleyes

North Korea perpetuates a negative image of the Korean people. But there is a positive one in the RoK which is never talked about.

http://cafe3.ktdom.com/vietvet/us/us.htm
Where do you live that people are not aware of the existence of South Korea?

[Extra Stout]

You know... looking at those pictures, as bad as NK must be... sub-Saharan Africa can only dream of having it that good.

[CuckingFunt]

SJiWObBTPO8

[slayermin]

Where do you live that people are not aware of the existence of South Korea?

Many Americans don't even know all fifty states. WTF are you talking about?

But if you are adept in world history, cool. My posts weren't intended for you.

This is my target audience.

qQdhMSEqhfg

[slayermin]

SJiWObBTPO8

:lol

I wish Kim Jong-Il was this cool. Unfortunately, he's closer to Hitler and Stalin.

[CubanMustGo]

How fucked is this regime? Kim Jong-Il portrait in a playhouse

EDIT: I don't want to sound like I'm talking bad about the country and its people. Just a couple of pieces of shit (Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il) who are ruining it.

http://www.tema.ru/travel/north-korea-3/_MG_0445.jpg

KJI (and KIS before him) have created an iron-fisted cult of personality around themselves that the Scientologists can only dream of. NO outside TV or media; NO cell phones; NO satellite TV; NO internet access; NO travel (unless you are a party apparatchnik). All the common man knows is what he has been fed by the state media for decades now.

I saw a very sad program where an outside agency was allowed to come into NK to perform minor sugeries that any civilized country should be able to handle on a day-to-day basis. Medical access in NK is pretty much reserved for, guess what, the military and the dictatorship. I can't remember if the doctors were from the UK or exactly where.

Here is the sad part. After the (minor) work was done and done successfully the recipients didn't thank the doctors and the staff. They bowed, scraped, and gave thanks to the posters of KJI and KIS as if they were gods and thanked THEM for curing the various afflictions. It's scary. And from all the reading I've done re NK this is not an isolated situation. The people deserve SO much better, but they don't know it.

Capitalism ain't perfect, but Juche is a pathetic joke on the people of North Korea.

[ShoogarBear]

Eat shit, Pyongyang.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61768&page=1&pp=40

[baseline bum]

KJI (and KIS before him) have created an iron-fisted cult of personality around themselves that the Scientologists can only dream of. NO outside TV or media; NO cell phones; NO satellite TV; NO internet access; NO travel (unless you are a party apparatchnik). All the common man knows is what he has been fed by the state media for decades now.

I saw a very sad program where an outside agency was allowed to come into NK to perform minor sugeries that any civilized country should be able to handle on a day-to-day basis. Medical access in NK is pretty much reserved for, guess what, the military and the dictatorship. I can't remember if the doctors were from the UK or exactly where.

Here is the sad part. After the (minor) work was done and done successfully the recipients didn't thank the doctors and the staff. They bowed, scraped, and gave thanks to the posters of KJI and KIS as if they were gods and thanked THEM for curing the various afflictions. It's scary. And from all the reading I've done re NK this is not an isolated situation. The people deserve SO much better, but they don't know it.

Capitalism ain't perfect, but Juche is a pathetic joke on the people of North Korea.

It's fucked up, but if you keep pounding an idea into people's minds, it's going to stick.

[T Park]

Whats the bigger shame is there is nothing we can do about it.

Stuff like trying to help the North Koreans is something I could definately support and try and get behind.