Posted on 07/25/2011 10:33:34 PM PDT by Pinkbell
The massive Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang is nearly ready to welcome guests after nearly two decades in the making, according to Architizer.
The pyramid-shaped hotel, the largest structure in North Korea and one of the tallest hotels in the world, will open in 2012, 33 years after it was originally set to accept guests.
Construction on the project was stalled for 15 years until 2008, when Egyptian conglomerate Orascom committed $400 million to finishing it, Architizer reported.
The tower's sleek and shiny facade was finally completed this year.
The hotel, which has more than 3,000 rooms, will reportedly have five revolving restaurants. It is the only hotel in the world with more than 100 stories, though the Emirates Park Towers, which opened in Dubai this year, is technically taller.
North Korea's Kumgang tourist district is also apparently ramping up on its efforts to attract tourists. The country reportedly agreed to allow foreign entities to invest in the troubled resort area in May.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
After sitting there for 15 years and a good part of it having been built by the commies, you wonder how safe it is. This thing will never be close to full, but for the commies, it's a front, something they'll show off and brag about.
The story says it has 5 (count ‘em...five) revolving restaurants. Given the food shortages rampant in North Korea, what are they gonna serve...grass soup?
Expect it to pancake in the near future.
Anybody want to go on vacation to North Korea????
I think I’ll pass on the chance to visit North Korea.
Stupid question — How does North Korea justify this excess in this monument to capitalism, if they are good communists? How do they justify wanting to build up a tourist economy, generating international income, when they are a worker’s paradise??
Is Kim Il Sung turning in his grave at this monument to capitalist indulgence? Not too many North Koreans will be able to afford to stay there.
This is what it looked like for most of the 15 years:
That's more concrete than steel.
yitbos
“The story says it has 5 (count em...five) revolving restaurants. Given the food shortages rampant in North Korea, what are they gonna serve...grass soup?”
S. Koreans who have starved to death. Watch what you eat.
Either that, or...
...Kimchi Helper.
.
Shiny facade is probably where it will end.
Commies are good at facades, think Potemkin.
yitbos
Well then a fire or plane crash cannot bring it down, just ask Rosie.
Rotsa Ruck.
I wonder if they remembered to run electricity to the place.
On a related note I watched the Vice Guide show on North Korea, where they took a trip through NK - it was quite amazing to see how it all "functioned". It's on Netflix, and highly recommended!
I hate that thing almost as much as that glass dome they stuck on top of the Reichstag.
I saw it on Youtube, and it was fascinating.
I always thought that hotel was spooky. It reminds me of Cabrini Green.
yitbos
I watched it after learning about it on a thread here on FreeRepublic some time ago, and I'll say again what I said back then,
“Thank God I'm an American” "Thank you Lord, thank You, thank You, thank You."
>>> After sitting there for 15 years and a good part of it having been built by the commies, you wonder how safe it is.
Yes, between third world materials and worksmanship I’d be fearful of a collapse or Towering Inferno fire. This won’t be a long lasting structure.
But I have to say I like what they tried to do. It’s a Blade Runner building. Architects who try to get away from the upended soda-cracker box skyscraper are at least making an effort.
Check out the underground videos from North Korea, the faked tourism is crazy, everything is a Potemkin village
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