Did You Know: North Korea Has A ‘Hotel Of Doom’ & It’s Never Had A Single Guest
Did You Know? is a trivia segment brought to you by DesignTAXI in which we get to the surprise candy of design history. Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes tidbits as we grow this column.
Image via Torsten Pursche / Shutterstock.com
The hospitality industry might be on a decline, but in North Korea, one hotel has been in a constant state of voidness. For three decades, the Ryugyong Hotel overseeing the Pyongyang skyline has never taken in a guest, earning it the infamous moniker of the ‘Hotel of Doom’. The 105-story hotel was never completed since work began in 1987—when the nation’s first ruler Kim Il-Sung was still alive.
Today, it stands as the tallest unoccupied building in the world, according to the Guiness World Records, primarily serving as a towering backdrop for performances.
However, the government continues to view the project as a work-in-progress.
Turns Out, Size Doesn’t Matter
Image via Oleg Znamenskiy / Shutterstock.com
As South Korea rushed to build the gold 63 Building for the 1988 Summer Olympics, the North fought to exert its superiority. It wanted to build something that was taller, more extravagant.
The plan to one-up the South involved opening a hotel with 3,000 rooms and five revolving restaurants. The eight-story cone at the tip of the building, which was meant to accommodate the restaurants, has since rusted.
The abandoned Ryugyong Hotel is the world’s 18th-tallest building, and would have been the tallest hotel internationally if it were completed.
Egypt Called—It Wants Its Shape Back
Image via Oleg Znamenskiy / Shutterstock.com
The building’s iconically pyramidal form wasn’t driven by aesthetics; it was an obligation. As the North Koreans were unfamiliar with other construction materials, they worked with what they were used to—reinforced concrete—to build the skyscraper, instead of the usual steel. A wider base was required for the building to be supported.
No Vacation
The Ryugyong Hotel faced its first great hurdle after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, leaving the country without its key trading partner and ally. North Korea fell into a food and economic crisis, putting plans for the hotel on the backburner.
Things picked up in 2008, when North Korea signed a deal with Egyptian infrastructure firm Orascom to set up 3G in the country. Glass panels were installed on the hotel’s exterior, a step that would cost Orascom US$400 million. It was projected then that completion of the hotel would amount to about US$2 billion, nearly 10-percent North Korea’s GDP.
In 2012, the German Kempinski Hotels declared that it would manage the hotel. However, it withdrew from the partnership within just a few months, explaining that talks had not advanced past the initial stage.
No known work has been done on the hotel’s interiors yet.
Light Up, As If You Had A Choice
The only use for the hotel is its façade, which was turned into a backdrop for a lightshow in 2018. The light performance, decked with political symbols and slogans, now takes place every night.
[via Medium, Insider, Associated Press, images via Shutterstock]
Image via Torsten Pursche / Shutterstock.com
The hospitality industry might be on a decline, but in North Korea, one hotel has been in a constant state of voidness. For three decades, the Ryugyong Hotel overseeing the Pyongyang skyline has never taken in a guest, earning it the infamous moniker of the ‘Hotel of Doom’. The 105-story hotel was never completed since work began in 1987—when the nation’s first ruler Kim Il-Sung was still alive.
Today, it stands as the tallest unoccupied building in the world, according to the Guiness World Records, primarily serving as a towering backdrop for performances.
However, the government continues to view the project as a work-in-progress.
Turns Out, Size Doesn’t Matter
Image via Oleg Znamenskiy / Shutterstock.com
As South Korea rushed to build the gold 63 Building for the 1988 Summer Olympics, the North fought to exert its superiority. It wanted to build something that was taller, more extravagant.
The plan to one-up the South involved opening a hotel with 3,000 rooms and five revolving restaurants. The eight-story cone at the tip of the building, which was meant to accommodate the restaurants, has since rusted.
The abandoned Ryugyong Hotel is the world’s 18th-tallest building, and would have been the tallest hotel internationally if it were completed.
Egypt Called—It Wants Its Shape Back
Image via Oleg Znamenskiy / Shutterstock.com
The building’s iconically pyramidal form wasn’t driven by aesthetics; it was an obligation. As the North Koreans were unfamiliar with other construction materials, they worked with what they were used to—reinforced concrete—to build the skyscraper, instead of the usual steel. A wider base was required for the building to be supported.
No Vacation
The Ryugyong Hotel faced its first great hurdle after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, leaving the country without its key trading partner and ally. North Korea fell into a food and economic crisis, putting plans for the hotel on the backburner.
Things picked up in 2008, when North Korea signed a deal with Egyptian infrastructure firm Orascom to set up 3G in the country. Glass panels were installed on the hotel’s exterior, a step that would cost Orascom US$400 million. It was projected then that completion of the hotel would amount to about US$2 billion, nearly 10-percent North Korea’s GDP.
In 2012, the German Kempinski Hotels declared that it would manage the hotel. However, it withdrew from the partnership within just a few months, explaining that talks had not advanced past the initial stage.
No known work has been done on the hotel’s interiors yet.
Light Up, As If You Had A Choice
The only use for the hotel is its façade, which was turned into a backdrop for a lightshow in 2018. The light performance, decked with political symbols and slogans, now takes place every night.
[via Medium, Insider, Associated Press, images via Shutterstock]
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