The Hotel of Doom
The Hotel of Doom
Published 19 September, 2008, 04:50
“The Hotel of Doom.” That's not the title of Stephen King’s new horror novel. It’s the nickname given to a building in North Korea considered by architects to be one of the ugliest ever built.
When ground was first broken on the North Korean tower in 1987, the 3,000-room hotel and conference centre was revered as the great “gray hope” for the isolated nation-state. It was seen as an architectural icon that screamed prosperity, political dominance and power.
The façade comprises three 75 degree angles joined together to make a pyramid, which is then topped off by several floors shaped like rings. So proud were the North Koreans of their new building, they featured the design on a postage stamp.
According to one news source, “Then North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung saw the hotel as a symbol of his big dream state.” Soon after the hoopla however, construction came to a grinding halt, its shell structure providing lodging pretty much for pigeons, bats and stray dogs.
Earlier this year Esquire magazine dubbed it “The Worst Building in the History of Mankind” and noted that the North Korean government has airbrushed the building out of official pictures.
Recently, however, work has resumed on the skyscraper. Glass panels have been installed to close off the concrete shell. Interior finishes and hardware are also being put in.
How much will it costs to complete the building by the summer of 2009? About $2 billion, or what's estimated to be roughly 10 per cent of North Korea's annual economic yield.
Vincent Zandri for RT
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