Archinect - News

New photos depicting North Korea's 'Architecture of Control'

2024-05-20T18:41:00-04:00

Reuters has published images of the DPRK's showcase architecture in a new photo essay titled 'Architecture of control: North Korea's bizarre, post-modern cityscapes,' which shows a rare glimpse at the post-modern building activity in Pyongyang.

It comes as the state pursues a new building program meant to yield 50,000 new residences in the capital by about this time next year, an effort aided by labor from military academy cadets and meant to match its housing shortage at "Pyongyang Speed."

The architectural designers of most of these buildings remain unknown. Their likely source is the nearby Paektusan Academy of Architecture.

North Korea breaks ground on the next phase of its 50,000-unit development plan

2022-02-28T11:12:00-05:00

North Korea has started work on a sprawling 10,000-apartment residential project as the country embarks on a housing drive in its capital, Pyongyang. Though few design details have been disclosed, digital renderings of the development show towers rising on both sides of a leafy boulevard in an area of the capital called Hwasong. A larger skyscraper, which appears to be at least 40 stories tall, is also depicted in the plans.

North Korea says it is on track to develop some 50,000 new residences in the capital in phases within the next 2-3 years. The rogue state has faced considerable housing shortages in the past and now looks to rebound from two years of economically-stifled developmental setbacks to create a "new world of a prosperous power where the people enjoy the highest dignity and the best happiness."

Much of Pyongyang’s transformation into a “socialist fairyland” stems in large part from plans put forth in a 2016 directive from leader Kim Jung Un and developed mostly anonymously and at “Pyongyang Speed” by the Paektusan Academy of Architecture. The primacy of the construction push is being further underscored by the incorporation of laborers taken from the state’s various military academies, which are being leaned on for the first time in an attempt to overcome supply chain issues related to economic sanctions and a marked decline in trade with China.

Another speedy “Pyonghattan” skyscraper project is underway

2016-06-29T14:55:00-04:00

Hoping to show the world his country is doing just fine despite sanctions and outside pressure over its nuclear weapons program, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has put his soldier-builders to work on yet another major [skyscraper] project Pyongyang’s new Pyonghattan, officially called “Ryomyong Street,” is to have the country’s tallest apartment building, at 70 stories, along with a 50-story building and a handful of smaller ones in the 30-40 story range.

“[Kim's] soldier-builders are now putting up the frames for each new floor at the reportedly breakneck-pace of 14 hours to get it all done by the end of the year.”

‘Pyongyang Speed:’ North Korea miraculously cranks out massive residential development for scientists in only one year

2015-12-18T13:46:00-05:00

North Korea held a ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate Mirae Scientists Street, the residential sector dedicated for scientists or engineers of North Korea. Mirae (“Future”) Scientists Street, located in the center of Pyongyang, directly next to Pyongyang Station adjacent to the Taedong River, is nearing completion. [...] Wednesday’s report emphasized the term “Pyongyang Speed,” the idea that North Korean workers can produce miraculously fast construction speeds.

"KCNA reports revealed that one of the buildings is 53 floors high, designed with an artistic exterior and guided under Kim Jong Un’s orders. The street also had a kindergarten, daycare center, school, stores, sports park and more, according to KCNA."

h/t CTBUH