The Worst Building in the World

I had my doubts about how bad this building could possibly have been when I heard about it. I mean we all know that architecture is very subjective and not everyone is going to agree about the aesthetic qualities of any building but when I saw an image of the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea, I had to admit that this was the one exception to the rule. It's truly awful!

The one-hundred-and-five-story, world's 22nd largest skyscraper broke ground as far back as 1987 by Baikdoosan Architects but construction was stopped in 1992 when it was rumored that the state ran out of money to continue. Now, more than twenty years later after North Korea poured more than two percent of its gross domestic product into this eyesore, construction has resumed though I can't understand why. The Ryugyong Hotel dwarfs and stands out so much from its surroundings, it looks like it was just dropped there from outer space with no care for site integration. Also, the government themselves think it is so bad that they airbrush it out of official photos of the city skyline, pretending that it isn't there.

Even by Communist standards, the 3,000-room hotel is hideously ugly, a series of three gray 328-foot long concrete wings shaped into a steep pyramid. With 75 degree sides that rise to an apex of 1,083 feet, the Hotel of Doom (also known as the Phantom Hotel and the Phantom Pyramid) isn't the just the worst designed building in the world -- it's the worst-built building, too. - www.esquire.com/the-side/DESIGN/hotel-of-doom-012808

I think like most people do, that the Ryugyong Hotel is horrid but again we really can't judge the entire process of its design and construction as it is within a communist country we do not understand or have much access to. This building clearly would not have even gotten approved anywhere in Europe or the United States nor would so much money have been poured down the drain on a project the government and community clearly seem to despise.

Images obtained from: http://www.esquire.com/the-side/DESIGN/hotel-of-doom-012808