[Hollie Maea]

The concrete isn't nearly as bad as it looks, kids.

 

[Msradell]

If you look closely at the flat surfaces on the corner that is visible it looks like the rebar is exposed in quite a few places. That definitely will cause long-term problems since water will have seeped in a round it and moved via capillary action quite a distance. The resulting corrosion of the rebar will cause weakening of the structure.

On another point, does anyone know if elevators were planned to run up those faces? It's sort of looks like that might be part of the plan, if it is it will certainly be a unique feature.

 

[thebobo]

It doesn't "veer" anywhere. It's just that the edges are ruined. Most probably superficial stuff.

Disagree with you on that. There is a lot of discoloration and spalling on the building, yes, but that can't account for what you see below. Have a look as the entire angled wall moves away and back over a sequence of floors from a set of straight lines I drew in. I used adjacent vertical walls as controls to eliminate lens distortion as the cause of this. I'm not saying it's a safety issue, but it's most definitely an indicator of shoddy workmanship.

 

[Peloso]

Disagree with you on that. There is a lot of discoloration and spalling on the building, yes, but that can't account for what you see below. Have a look as the entire angled wall moves away and back over a sequence of floors from a set of straight lines I drew in. I used adjacent vertical walls as controls to eliminate lens distortion as the cause of this. I'm not saying it's a safety issue, but it's most definitely an indicator of shoddy workmanship.
http://i42.tinypic.com/254zwja.jpg

Interesting job you made, but the lines seem to prove me right. It's just the edges and the surfaces that are ruined. I'm failing to see any misalignment of the main wall, all the windows fall in line for how long I stare at them. Maybe one is one inch off, ok.
But If I may, I'd like to ask you and all the other folks who are working so hard to dismiss this building as useless and ugly and unrecoverable and so on, are you sure your energies wouldn't be better used elsewhere? I mean there are tons of specimens out there that are real insults to intelligence and architecture and also incomparably more wasteful in terms of money and resources than this building... and don't tell me this is because "North Korea can't afford it", it's a nonsense. Take for instance the money spent for the Freedom Tower (1 billion dollars from the State of New York in the form of bonds so far) - it could just as well be used to give a home to many of the people who are now living in tents everywhere in the USA. Why don't you go protest about that?

 

[Trisuno]

Am so curious to see this monster completed!

 

[thebobo]

Interesting job you made, but the lines seem to prove me right. It's just the edges and the surfaces that are ruined. I'm failing to see any misalignment of the main wall, all the windows fall in line for how long I stare at them. Maybe one is one inch off, ok.

Exactly my point. The vertical walls are fine, showing the picture has not been distorted by rescaling of the image or by a wide lens. The problem I noted is with the face of the angled wall. The angled wall clearly moves away and back from my set of straight lines over a series of floors, as the result of deficient formwork, surveying, quality assurance, or a combination of the above. I don't care where in the world it's being built; I haven't seen any other building even close to this scale where tolerances are so loose that you can spot such deviations from a photograph.

 

[buildmilehightower]

I think people get the idea that its bad concrete by for example looking at far left vertical wall in the picture above, where it shows massive amount of concrete on the surface's been weathered.

 

[sundrop74]

Disagree with you on that. There is a lot of discoloration and spalling on the building, yes, but that can't account for what you see below. Have a look as the entire angled wall moves away and back over a sequence of floors from a set of straight lines I drew in. I used adjacent vertical walls as controls to eliminate lens distortion as the cause of this. I'm not saying it's a safety issue, but it's most definitely an indicator of shoddy workmanship.

SCARY! I wonder if the resurfacing that we've seen in more recent photographs could have corrected that type of problem? If not, I'd be hesitant to step foot in the building.

 

[Dequal]

SCARY! I wonder if the resurfacing that we've seen in more recent photographs could have corrected that type of problem? If not, I'd be hesitant to step foot in the building.

They didn't 'resurfaced' it. They are putting cladding (glass) over it, so that won't solve the problems. :bash:

 

[the sock]

i think its starting to look good.

 

[GeoMartin]

Are there some pictures about the construction-site of this building from 1987-1992? This would be very interesting.

 

[egramsbergen]

I actually like this building as a ruin, cladding spoils the fun a bit.

 

[gayscraper]

Are there some pictures about the construction-site of this building from 1987-1992? This would be very interesting.

Hey! I couldn't find some pics except one, but on this picture it is nearly finished... sorry

It is better than nothing... sorry
And I found another rendering, if we hadn't this before:

I found 1 video... maybe you havn't seen it... enjoy
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1182375/ryugyong_hotel_north_korea_pyongyang/
UHHH just found another pic, how it would look if it was finished without glass cladding:

 

[tq]

I love this bldg actually. It is very distinctive.

 

[tq]

Will this hotel be managed by an intl company like Accor, Hilton...(by any chance) ? Will it also be a five-star hotel?

 

[Xpressway]

Maybe they're just covering it with glass just for propaganda purposes?

NK allows Orascom to operate in the country if Orascom covers that building with glass?

 

[chinatown]

I wish they would leave it white, blend with the surroundings better (you cannot find one single glassy hi-rise in Pyongyang) lol.

 

[i_like_concrete]

I wish they would leave it white, blend with the surroundings better (you cannot find one single glassy hi-rise in Pyongyang) lol.

To be honest I don't think the colour will make any difference, it's a 105 storey building, it's gonna stick out like a sore thumb no matter what.

 

[Pruim]

The angled wall clearly moves away and back from my set of straight lines over a series of floors, as the result of deficient formwork, surveying, quality assurance, or a combination of the above.

This happens with many highrises, if not all. I believe even one of the Petronas Towers is 1 meter out of line. But this doesn't have to say anything about the actual quality of the concrete.

Concrete can withstand years of punishment. Think about all the bridges, dams, dikes and all. Yes, they are being maintained but as long as water doesn't manages to reach the steel inside the concrete, all should be well.

 

[Qtya]

Its so strange not seeing any workers on these pics... Ore not even a truck on the others...