Ryugyong Hotel

Ryugyong Hotel

The Ryugyong Hotel in August 2011
Location within Pyongyang
General information
Status Topped-out
Location Pyongyang, North Korea
Coordinates 39°02′11″N 125°43′50″E / 39.03639°N 125.73056°E / 39.03639; 125.73056Coordinates: 39°02′11″N 125°43′50″E / 39.03639°N 125.73056°E / 39.03639; 125.73056
Construction started 1987[1]
Topped-out 1992[2]
Estimated completion Unknown
Height
Roof 330.02 metres (1,082.7 ft)[2]
Technical details
Floor count 105[2]
Floor area 360,000 m2 (3,900,000 sq ft)[2]
Design and construction
Architect Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers[1]
Developer Orascom Group
Main contractor Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers (1987–1992)[1]
Orascom Construction Industries (2008–present)[3]
References
[2]
Ryugyong Hotel
Chosŏn'gŭl 류경려관
S: 유경호텔
Hancha 柳京旅館
S: 柳京호텔
Revised Romanization Ryugyeong Ryeogwan
S: Yugyeong Hotel
McCune–Reischauer Ryugyŏng Ryŏgwan
S: Yugyŏng Hot'el

The Ryugyong Hotel (Chosŏn'gŭl: 류경려관; sometimes anglicised as Ryu-Gyong Hotel or Yu-Kyung Hotel)[4] is an unfinished 105-storey pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea. Its name ("capital of willows") is also one of the historical names for Pyongyang.[5] The building is also known as the 105 Building, a reference to its number of floors.[2] The building has been planned as a mixed-use development, which would include a hotel.

Construction began in 1987 but was halted in 1992 as North Korea entered a period of economic crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union. After 1992 the building stood topped out, but without any windows or interior fittings. In 2008 construction resumed, and the exterior was completed in 2011. It was planned to open the hotel in 2012, the centenary of Kim Il-sung's birth, but this did not happen. A partial opening was announced for 2013, but this was also cancelled.[6]

Architecture

The Ryugyong Hotel has a height of 330 metres (1,080 ft),[7] making it the most prominent feature of Pyongyang's skyline and by far the tallest structure in North Korea. Construction of the Ryugyong Hotel was intended to be completed in time for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in June 1989; had this been achieved, it would have held the title of world's tallest hotel. The unfinished building was not surpassed in height by any new hotel until the 2009 completion of the spire atop the Rose Tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Ryugyong Hotel is currently the world's 49th tallest building (alongside the China World Trade Center Tower III) in terms of total height and has the 7th highest number of floors. It is also the tallest unoccupied building in the world.[8]

The building consists of three wings, each measuring 100 metres (330 ft) long, 18 metres (59 ft) wide, and sloped at a 75‑degree angle,[9] which converge at a common point to form a pinnacle. The building is topped by a truncated cone 40 metres (130 ft) wide, consisting of eight floors that are intended to rotate, topped by a further six static floors. The structure was originally intended to house five revolving restaurants, and either 3,000 or 7,665 guest rooms, according to different sources.[10][11] According to Orascom's Khaled Bichara in 2009, the Ryugyong will not be just a hotel, but rather a mixed-use development, including "revolving restaurant" facilities along with a "mixture of hotel accommodation, apartments and business facilities".[3]

History

Construction

First start

The plan for a large hotel was reportedly a Cold War response to the completion of the world's tallest hotel, the Westin Stamford Hotel in Singapore, in 1986 by the South Korean company SsangYong Group.[12] North Korean leadership envisioned the project as a channel for Western investors to step into the marketplace.[12] A firm, the Ryugyong Hotel Investment and Management, was established to attract a hoped-for $230 million in foreign investment.[12] A representative for the North Korean government promised relaxed oversight, allowing "foreign investors [to] operate casinos, nightclubs or Japanese lounges".[12] North Korean construction firm Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers (also known as Baekdu Mountain Architects and Engineers) began construction on a pyramid‑shaped hotel in 1987.[1][13]

First halt

The hotel was scheduled to open in June 1989 for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students, but problems with building methods and materials delayed completion.[14] Had it opened on schedule, it would have surpassed the Westin Stamford Hotel to become the world's tallest hotel,[15] and would have been the seventh-tallest building in the world.[2]

In 1992, after the building had reached its full architectural height,[2] work was halted due to the economic crisis in North Korea following the collapse of the Soviet bloc.[3] Japanese newspapers estimated the cost of construction was $750 million,[16] consuming 2 percent of North Korea’s GDP.[9] For over a decade, the unfinished building sat vacant and without windows, fixtures, or fittings, appearing as a massive concrete shell.[2] A rusting construction crane remained at the top, which the BBC called "a reminder of the totalitarian state's thwarted ambition".[3][17] According to Marcus Noland, in the late 1990s, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea inspected the building and concluded that the structure was irreparable.[18] Questions were raised regarding the quality of the building's concrete and the alignment of its elevator shafts,[3] which some sources said were "crooked".[11]

In a 2006 article, ABC News questioned whether North Korea had sufficient raw materials or energy for such a massive project.[15] A North Korean government official told the Los Angeles Times in 2008 that construction was not completed "because [North Korea] ran out of money".[19]

The halt in construction, the rumours of problems and the mystery about its future led foreign media sources to dub it "The Worst Building in the World",[9][20] "Hotel of Doom" and "Phantom Hotel".[3]

View of the top in September 2008, several months after construction resumed

Second start

In April 2008, after 16 years of inactivity, work on the building was restarted by the Egyptian company Orascom Group.[21][3] Orascom, which has entered into a US$400 million deal with the North Korean government to build and run a 3G mobile phone network, said that their telecommunications deal was not directly related to the Ryugyong Hotel work.[3] In 2008 North Korean officials stated that the hotel would be completed by 2012, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the birth of the "Eternal President", Kim Il-sung.[17] In 2009, Orascom's COO Khaled Bichara noted that they "had not had too many problems" resolving the reported structural issues of the building, and that a revolving restaurant will be located at the top of the building.[3]

In July 2011, it was reported that the exterior work was complete.[22] Features that Orascom has installed include exterior glass panels and telecommunications antennas.[23] In 2012, photographs taken by Koryo Tours were released, showing the interior for the first time. There were few fixtures or furnishings.[24][25] In November 2012, international hotel operator Kempinski announced it would be running the hotel which was expected to partially open in mid‑2013.[26][27]

Second halt

In March 2013, plans to reopen the hotel were suspended.[28] Kempinski clarified its earlier statements saying that only “initial discussions” had ever occurred,[29] but that no agreement had been signed because “market entry is not currently possible”.[30] Kempinski gave no specific reasons, but commentators suggested that international tensions related to the 2013 North Korean nuclear test, economic risks, and delays in construction probably played a part.[31][28][30]

Progression of construction work

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Orascom and DPRK to Complete Ryugyong Hotel Construction". The Institute for Far Eastern Studies. 20 May 2008. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Ryugyong Hotel". Emporis. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Will 'Hotel of Doom' ever be finished?". BBC News. 15 October 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  4. ↑ "105 Building, Pyongyang, Korea, North". Asian Historical Architecture. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  5. ↑ Funabashi, Yoichi (2007). The Peninsula Question: A Chronicle of the Second Northern Korean Nuclear Crisis. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. p. 50. ISBN 0-8157-3010-1.
  6. ↑ Berg, Nate (16 February 2016). "North Korea’s Best Building Is Empty: The Mystery Of The Ryugyong Hotel". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "North Korea's 'Hotel of Doom' to open 24 years after construction: by numbers". The Daily Telegraph. 10 October 2011.
  8. ↑ "Tallest building unoccupied". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Hagberg, Eva (28 January 2008). "The Worst Building in the History of Mankind". Esquire. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  10. ↑ Randl, Chad (2008). Revolving Architecture: A History of Buildings That Rotate, Swivel, and Pivot. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-56898-681-4.
  11. 1 2 Quinones, C. Kenneth; Taggert, Joseph (2003). "The Economy: Supporting the Military". The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding North Korea. Complete Idiot's Guides. Indianapolis: Alpha Books. p. 183. ISBN 978-1-59257-169-7. LCCN 2003113809. OCLC 54510387. OL 8867625M.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Ngor, Oh Kwee (9 June 1990). "Western decadence hits N. Korea". Japan Economic Journal: 12.
  13. ↑ Cramer, James P.; Jennifer Evans Yankopolus, ed. (2006). Almanac of Architecture & Design (7th ed.). Atlanta: Greenway Publications. p. 368. ISBN 0-9755654-2-7.
  14. ↑ "North Korean hotel dubbed the 'worst building in the world' may finally be finished". The Daily Telegraph (London). 16 October 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  15. 1 2 Beckmann, Dan (23 October 2006). "Pyongyang: Home to the Tallest Hotel in the World That Could, but Will Never Be". ABC News. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  16. ↑ "North Korea builds record-height hotel". Engineering News-Record: 41. 15 November 1990.
  17. 1 2 Kirk, Donald (17 October 2008). "Grand Illusion". Forbes. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  18. ↑ Noland, Marcus (2000). Avoiding the Apocalypse: The Future of the Two Koreas. Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics. p. 82. ISBN 0-88132-278-4.
  19. ↑ Demick, Barbara (27 September 2008). "North Korea in the midst of mysterious building boom". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  20. ↑ Herskovitz, Jon (18 July 2008). "North Koreans revamp 'world's worst building'". The Independent (London). Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  21. ↑ "Korea: N Korea Resumes Construction Of Luxury Hotel". MySinchew. 25 May 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  22. ↑ "Photos: ‘Hotel of Doom’ Exterior Completed". The Huffington Post. 14 July 2011.
  23. ↑ Herskovitz, Jon (17 July 2008). "Lifestyle: North Korea’s ‘Hotel of Doom’ wakes from its coma". Reuters. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  24. ↑ "North Korea's Ryugyong ‘Hotel of Doom’ pictures released". BBC News. 27 September 2012.
  25. ↑ "Ryugyong Hotel Special Report!". Koryo Tours. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014.
  26. ↑ "North Korea's Ryugyong Hotel Will 'Probably' Open Next Year, Be Managed By Kempinski". The Huffington Post. Associated Press. 1 November 2012. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012.
  27. ↑ Yoon, Sangwon (1 November 2012). "Kempinski to Operate World’s Tallest Hotel in North Korea". Bloomberg.
  28. 1 2 "Plan to open high-rise hotel in Pyongyang suspended due to ‘market conditions’". Yonhap News Agency. 29 March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013.
  29. ↑ Strochlic, Nina (22 May 2014). "Nobody’s Home at the Hermit Kingdom’s Ghost Hotel". The Daily Beast. New York. Archived from the original on 12 November 2015.
  30. 1 2 O’Carroll, Chad (28 March 2013). "Kempinski Freezes ‘Hotel Of Doom’ Plans In North Korea". NK News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2015.
  31. ↑ "Travel: North Korea’s vast Ryugyong Hotel not opening yet after all". CNN. 25 April 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Despite its flashy exterior, the hotel’s interior showed no sign of being close to completion in December [2012].

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