It's an unfinished 105 story hotel in North Korea. I've never even heard of it until today. I'm fascinated. Turns out to be one the world's tallest structures. Looks quite sinister.
You might like to look at all the projects sent to the magazine Domus when in june 2005 Domus launched a call for ideas for the reconstruction of the Ryugyong Hotel.
perhaps people have inhabited the accessible parts of the unfinished structure. i'd love to see some interior urban exploration type photos, but I doubt many outsiders have been able to even get near the building, let alone inside of it.
This is incredible.. I can't believe more people haven't heard about it. It looks like a giant dunce-hat. Its fun imagining what kind of sub-human cultures exist within the sunlight-deprived core. Someone could probably camp out at the top floor for years before getting caught..
its pretty famous...every one who's traveled to the dprk has shown a picture of it. the strange thing is the koreans just don't acknowledge its existence.
i believed they started building it because a south korean company erected a huge skyscraper somewhere in asia, and the north koreans wanted to outdo them. apparently it has major structural problems which is part of the reason why its unfinished.
when you look at the google satellite image it makes things all the more mysterious. what are all the hexagonal and triangular compartments at the base of the building? why is the building sited in the midst of what looks like basically a residential neighborhood? why is the soil still bare after construction has been halted for 15 years?
one thing nobody has pointed out is that the building is appearently constructed from cast concrete. it must have taken a hurculean effort to pump and pour that 1000 feet in the air. the rendering on one of mdler's links looks like it was supposed to be mostly clad in glass. cast concrete seems an odd (or impossible!) choice for such a tall building, especially when it was to be fully glazed. my theory is that north korea just didn't have access to the steel. that also explains the pyramidal shape...the lower floors must be a maze of huge columns and thick walls...or they're not and that's why it's considered unsafe.
why does the mere fact that it's unfinished keep it off "world's tallest" lists? the structure has been topped out and is in fact standing taller than all but 6 other buildings in the world. that should qualify.
the idea of a contemporary ruin as a visual symbol of political and economic ineptitude is fascinating. ranks with the remaining shards of the berlin wall, the coming-soon israel/palestine wall, and others.
i started undergrad in new orleans in 86, two years after their 84 worlds fair. over the course of my time there, wandering around the downtown and warehouse district, i'd sometimes come across leftover pieces of world's fair structures. bizarro.
'course now the ruins are a little different. they won't be less interesting, but certainly the feelings will be different than those elicited by the ryugyong.
kahn wrote some incredible things about projecting his buildings into the future, imagining them as ruins, as a consideration in making design decisions. in undergrad we actually had to make this an exercise during the course of one of our projects: building a model of our current project, but reimagined 50 yrs forward.
i didn't think of the barcelona work as ruins when i was there, but now that i think about it....
it's also interesting when these 'temporary' projects get reinhabited by other uses, sometimes unintended. and then there's the mvrdv project in hannover which is languishing. i don't think it's still for sale on ebay anyway.
oh yeah. forgot about that one, orhan - or didn't make the connection anyway. that was beautiful. and answered some of the issues raised by those who protested the competition as well by making the building serve the local population.
One of those links above took me to an article about the supercollider project that was abandoned in the 1990's. Only the gov't can spend billions on something and then just as quickly abandon the project.
Personally I'm more interested in the abandoned buildings that were once inhabited. For example, about half the buildings in Detroit. Ha. Although I can't say I've ever done any urban adventuring, I could spend all day looking at web sites and photos showing the chaos of abandonment and slow decay of buildings. The scale of the Ryugyong hotel makes it interesting, but what's there to see other than structure...concrete?
"hey, you get a sandwich a jacoby's bistro and then make that statement again, son."
Never been in there, but I'm curious how many of the customers live in Detroit or Wayne County for that matter?
From Wikpedia:
Detroit : As of 2004, Detroit ranked as the United States' 11th most populous city with 900,198 residents, half the peak population it boasted in the 1950s. Detroit leads the nation in terms of declining urban population and its crime rate has created international notoriety and a tarnished reputation. The city continues to struggle with the burdens of racial disharmony between itself and its suburban neighbors as well as an antiquated economy. In the 1990s and 2000s the city experienced somewhat of a revival, with the construction of the Compuware headquarters and three gambling casinos, amid budget shortfalls and cuts in city services.
how fast are the rotations/revolutions? might the centripetally accelerated spews cause irritating crossfire? Are diners shielded with guard rails? provided with ping-pong paddles?
Ryugyong Hotel - unknown skyscraper
It's an unfinished 105 story hotel in North Korea. I've never even heard of it until today. I'm fascinated. Turns out to be one the world's tallest structures. Looks quite sinister.
link
You might like to look at all the projects sent to the magazine Domus when in june 2005 Domus launched a call for ideas for the reconstruction of the Ryugyong Hotel.
http://www.domusweb.it/domus2k6/source/contents/item.cfm?type=NWS&ID=42841
and here some project sent to Domus:
http://www.domusweb.it/Domus/specials/ryugyong_hotel/avvio.cfm?&lingua=_eng
You have to register and log in, then you can see the projects.
seven revolving resturants...damn
in the lower right hand corner of the above pic, notice what looks like brick infill in the concrete frame
perhaps people have inhabited the accessible parts of the unfinished structure. i'd love to see some interior urban exploration type photos, but I doubt many outsiders have been able to even get near the building, let alone inside of it.
This is incredible.. I can't believe more people haven't heard about it. It looks like a giant dunce-hat. Its fun imagining what kind of sub-human cultures exist within the sunlight-deprived core. Someone could probably camp out at the top floor for years before getting caught..
its pretty famous...every one who's traveled to the dprk has shown a picture of it. the strange thing is the koreans just don't acknowledge its existence.
i believed they started building it because a south korean company erected a huge skyscraper somewhere in asia, and the north koreans wanted to outdo them. apparently it has major structural problems which is part of the reason why its unfinished.
when you look at the google satellite image it makes things all the more mysterious. what are all the hexagonal and triangular compartments at the base of the building? why is the building sited in the midst of what looks like basically a residential neighborhood? why is the soil still bare after construction has been halted for 15 years?
one thing nobody has pointed out is that the building is appearently constructed from cast concrete. it must have taken a hurculean effort to pump and pour that 1000 feet in the air. the rendering on one of mdler's links looks like it was supposed to be mostly clad in glass. cast concrete seems an odd (or impossible!) choice for such a tall building, especially when it was to be fully glazed. my theory is that north korea just didn't have access to the steel. that also explains the pyramidal shape...the lower floors must be a maze of huge columns and thick walls...or they're not and that's why it's considered unsafe.
i'd really love to see the original floorplans.
i believe that the Domus competition provided plans...there was a link
todays Seoul Times (actually tomorrows)
why does the mere fact that it's unfinished keep it off "world's tallest" lists? the structure has been topped out and is in fact standing taller than all but 6 other buildings in the world. that should qualify.
i read a blurb saying that the elevator cores are not plumb; the elevators would theoretically hit the sides of the shaft
a fairly large hi-res photo via flickr:
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=112150068&size=o
the idea of a contemporary ruin as a visual symbol of political and economic ineptitude is fascinating. ranks with the remaining shards of the berlin wall, the coming-soon israel/palestine wall, and others.
Steven Ward
I also am fascinated with the concept of contemporary ruins. The 1964 Worlds Fair site in NYC, as well as the 1992 Olympic stuff in Barcelona...
All of the $$$ and energy that goes into the creation of these buildings / infastructure for such ephemeral events
Damn, I sound smart
Steven Ward
I also am fascinated with the concept of contemporary ruins. The 1964 Worlds Fair site in NYC, as well as the 1992 Olympic stuff in Barcelona...
All of the $$$ and energy that goes into the creation of these buildings / infastructure for such ephemeral events
Damn, I sound smart
oh no...WonderK is going to 'double post stick figure cartoon' my ass
mdler-
i started undergrad in new orleans in 86, two years after their 84 worlds fair. over the course of my time there, wandering around the downtown and warehouse district, i'd sometimes come across leftover pieces of world's fair structures. bizarro.
'course now the ruins are a little different. they won't be less interesting, but certainly the feelings will be different than those elicited by the ryugyong.
kahn wrote some incredible things about projecting his buildings into the future, imagining them as ruins, as a consideration in making design decisions. in undergrad we actually had to make this an exercise during the course of one of our projects: building a model of our current project, but reimagined 50 yrs forward.
i didn't think of the barcelona work as ruins when i was there, but now that i think about it....
it's also interesting when these 'temporary' projects get reinhabited by other uses, sometimes unintended. and then there's the mvrdv project in hannover which is languishing. i don't think it's still for sale on ebay anyway.
here is one of my favorite entries by archinect writer john jourden. link
oh yeah. forgot about that one, orhan - or didn't make the connection anyway. that was beautiful. and answered some of the issues raised by those who protested the competition as well by making the building serve the local population.
One of those links above took me to an article about the supercollider project that was abandoned in the 1990's. Only the gov't can spend billions on something and then just as quickly abandon the project.
Personally I'm more interested in the abandoned buildings that were once inhabited. For example, about half the buildings in Detroit. Ha. Although I can't say I've ever done any urban adventuring, I could spend all day looking at web sites and photos showing the chaos of abandonment and slow decay of buildings. The scale of the Ryugyong hotel makes it interesting, but what's there to see other than structure...concrete?
yes, as we all know, half the buildings in detroit are abandoned. it is not in any way a vibrant, functioning metropolis. there is nothing there.
As a native...it is definitely vibrant, but functioning? ...questionable
hey, you get a sandwich a jacoby's bistro and then make that statement again, son.
Wow.... I can't help but be reminded of this:
"hey, you get a sandwich a jacoby's bistro and then make that statement again, son."
Never been in there, but I'm curious how many of the customers live in Detroit or Wayne County for that matter?
From Wikpedia:
Detroit : As of 2004, Detroit ranked as the United States' 11th most populous city with 900,198 residents, half the peak population it boasted in the 1950s. Detroit leads the nation in terms of declining urban population and its crime rate has created international notoriety and a tarnished reputation. The city continues to struggle with the burdens of racial disharmony between itself and its suburban neighbors as well as an antiquated economy. In the 1990s and 2000s the city experienced somewhat of a revival, with the construction of the Compuware headquarters and three gambling casinos, amid budget shortfalls and cuts in city services.
hmmm, look like a star wars ship, i wonder if its same scale
that google earth image looked like it was straight out of Unreal Tournament. This Korean monstrosity is just surreal.
how fast are the rotations/revolutions? might the centripetally accelerated spews cause irritating crossfire? Are diners shielded with guard rails? provided with ping-pong paddles?
imagine if that regime had any real money...
No kidding....
Anyway, I am also very fascinated with all of this.
Thanks for posting the incredible pix.
Hannah
Customer Relations
Palm Springs Hotels
I have some pictures that I took awhile back and will dig them up and post them. It was quite an experience and that is all I will say...
I would love to see your photos. Please post them once you locate them.
Many Thanks,
Hannah
Customer Relations
Hotels Lake Tahoe
I would love to see your photos. Please post them once you locate them.
Many Thanks,
Hannah
Customer Relations
Hotels Lake Tahoe
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