Ryugyong Hotel
Pyongyang, North Korea
HEIGHT: 330m/1,083 feet
FLOORS: 105 floors
COMPLETION: 1991 ( Topping Out )
ARCHITECT: Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers
3000 room hotel that was never finished, but would have been the tallest hotel in the world at "completion"
The North Koreans began constructing the pyramid-shaped Ryugyong in 1987, reportedly aiming for 105 stories to beat out a structure the South Koreans were building in Singapore (not Kuala Lumpur). With 3,000 rooms and an estimated cost of $750 million, the thing was strictly an ego trip for North Korea's rulers--Pyongyang's few existing hotels were, and are, virtually empty. In 1991, some time after the Ryugyong had been topped out, work halted for unknown reasons, though "out of money" would be a good guess. The 3.9-millon-square-foot concrete structure is lit up at night, at least in propaganda pictures, but is thought to be crumbling.
Pyongyang, North Korea
HEIGHT: 330m/1,083 feet
FLOORS: 105 floors
COMPLETION: 1991 ( Topping Out )
ARCHITECT: Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers
3000 room hotel that was never finished, but would have been the tallest hotel in the world at "completion"
The North Koreans began constructing the pyramid-shaped Ryugyong in 1987, reportedly aiming for 105 stories to beat out a structure the South Koreans were building in Singapore (not Kuala Lumpur). With 3,000 rooms and an estimated cost of $750 million, the thing was strictly an ego trip for North Korea's rulers--Pyongyang's few existing hotels were, and are, virtually empty. In 1991, some time after the Ryugyong had been topped out, work halted for unknown reasons, though "out of money" would be a good guess. The 3.9-millon-square-foot concrete structure is lit up at night, at least in propaganda pictures, but is thought to be crumbling.




