Basic Information
- Location: Pyongyang, North Korea
- Height: 330 meters (1,080 feet)
- Floors: 105
- Construction Started: 1987
- Construction Paused: 1992-2008
- Exterior Completed: 2011
- Current Status: Unfinished interior, has never opened
- Nickname: “Hotel of Doom”
- Architectural Style: Futuristic, Neo-Futurist, Brutalist influence
- Design: Three-sided pyramid with three wings converging at the top
Architectural Significance
The Ryugyong Hotel represents one of the most fascinating and mysterious architectural projects of the modern era. As the world’s tallest unfinished building for many years, it offers a rare glimpse into ambitious architectural dreams colliding with economic and political realities.
Design Features:
- Distinctive three-sided pyramid shape with three symmetrical wings
- Originally planned to house 3,000 hotel rooms
- Designed to include five revolving restaurants at the top
- Intended to have multiple nightclubs, casinos, and luxury amenities
- Estimated to have consumed approximately 2% of North Korea’s GDP during construction
Historical Context
The Ryugyong Hotel was conceived during the Cold War as a direct response to South Korea’s development boom in preparation for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. The North Korean government, under Kim Il-sung, commissioned this massive project as a demonstration of national power and technological capability.
The building’s original purpose went beyond mere accommodation—it was designed as a propaganda statement, showcasing North Korean engineering prowess and economic might to the world. The name “Ryugyong” itself translates to “capital of willows,” a historical name for Pyongyang.
Construction Saga
The Ryugyong Hotel’s construction history reads like an architectural thriller:
- 1987: Ground broken with ambitious plans for the world’s tallest hotel
- 1992: Construction halted due to North Korea’s economic crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union
- 1992-2008: Building sat as an empty concrete shell, becoming a globally infamous “phantom hotel”
- 2008: Construction resumed with assistance from Orascom Group (Egyptian telecommunications company)
- 2011: Exterior glass facade completed
- 2012-present: Various rumors of opening dates have circulated, but the interior remains unfinished
During the 16-year construction hiatus, the building was so controversial that it was actually removed from maps and official photographs of Pyongyang, despite being impossible to miss on the city’s skyline.