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| Kumsusan Memorial Palace, 1977 Photo: Getty Images Originally built as Kim Il-sung’s government palace, the building became his mausoleum and a shrine to the Juche ideology when the Eternal President died. Once visitors have passed through the imposing gates (and airport style security), they can view the sumptuous, marble-clad rooms of gifts from foreign leaders, the Hall of Tears, and the bodies of the two leaders illuminated in crystal sarcophaguses |
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| May Day Stadium, 1989 Photo: Oliver Wainwright Some say it is modelled on a parachute caught in full flight, others say it resembles magnolia blossom. Either way, the May Day stadium is said to be the biggest stadium in the world, with a capacity of 150,000 |
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| Entrance to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, 1977 Photo: David Guttenfelder/AP A soldier guards the entrance to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, resting place of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il |
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| Grand People’s Study House, 1982 Photo: Oliver Wainwright A modern interpretation of traditional Korean architecture, this monumental 10-storey building is the equivalent of the central public library, fronting on to Kim Il-sung square. Its 34 tile rooftops cover 100,000 square metres, including 15 reading rooms, 14 lecture halls and innumerable offices – as well as an ‘Area of Education through Revolutionary Materials’ |
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| The Koryo Hotel, 1985 Photo: Oliver Wainwright The main hotel for foreigners, this luxury complex consists of two 45-storey towers, connected by a bridge, with room for more than 1,000 guests. One tower is crowned with a revolving restaurant |
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| Workers’ Party Foundation Monument, 1995 Photo: Oliver Wainwright Built on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Workers’ Party of Korea, this 250,000 square metre complex features three gargantuan stone fists, each holding a symbol of the three elements of the party – a hammer for the worker, a sickle for the peasant and a calligraphy brush for the intellectual |
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| Ryugyong Hotel, 1987-present Photo: Oliver Wainwright Begun in 1987, the 3,000-room mountain stood as a rusting concrete carcass for years, until it was recently dressed in mirrored glass and aluminium by Egyptian telecoms company Orascom, as part of a $400m deal to operate the country’s 3G phone network. Crowned with five revolving restaurants and intended to open for the centenary of Kim Il-sung’s birth in 2012, it remains unfinished and off-limits |
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| Mansudae Great Monument, 1972 Photo: Oliver Wainwright The 20-metre high bronze statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il crown the summit of Mansu Hill, from where they survey a 2km axis across the Taedong river, to where the Party Foundation Monument stands. Flowers must be laid at their feet, and a bow performed, before any photos are taken here |
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| Tower of the Juche Idea, 1982 Photo: Oliver Wainwright Crowned with a red glass flame-shaped lantern, this 170-metre tall tower is the main monument to the state ideology of Juche (self-reliance). At its base stands a 42-metre tall group of bronze statues representing the three elements of the Workers’ Party – a worker, an intellectual and a peasant |
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| Pyongyang Ice Rink, 1981 Photo: Oliver Wainwright With space for 6,000 spectators over four tiers, the ice rink is one of the most recognisable of the sporting structures in Pyongyang, said to be modelled on a “skater’s cap” – although none of the guides could quite explain what a skater’s cap is. More likely, its architects were inspired by Frederick Gibberd’s Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool (aka Paddy’s Wigwam) or Oscar Niemeyer’s Cathedral of Brasília |
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| Changgwang Health and Recreation Complex, 1981-6 Photo: Oliver Wainwright With one of the best-preserved interiors of the period, full of beautiful mosaic tiles and terrazzo floors, the Changgwang Health and Recreation Complex is the closest thing to an everyday leisure centre, with swimming pool, spa and hair salon. The expressive diving board features a glass elevator to take you up to the different boards |
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| Arch of Triumph, 1982 Photo: Oliver Wainwright Built on the site where Kim Il-sung made his first public speech after returning to North Korea in 1945, the Arch of Triumph is built of 25,500 blocks of granite to represent the days of Kim Il-sung’s life on his 70th birthday. Its hefty three-layer roof makes it officially 10 metres taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris |
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| Grand People’s Study House on Kim Il-sung Square, 1982 Photo: Oliver Wainwright The study house has a magnificent marble-lined entrance lobby, featuring Kim Il-sung enthroned in front of a wall mosaic of Mount Paektu. Let’s hope this resists being ‘modernised’ with lino and granite tiles |
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| Yongwang metro station, 1987 Photo: Oliver Wainwright Inspired by the majestic Moscow metro system, the Pyongyang metro stations are a tour de force of sculptural stone columns and elaborate narrative mosaics, each station telling a chapter of Kim Il-sung’s epic struggle against the forces of imperialism and the workers’ march to freedom and prosperity |
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| Yongwang metro station, 1987 Photo: Oliver Wainwright A commuter waits for a train while admiring the mosaic panorama of Pyongyang. You can make out the twin towers of the Koryo Hotel, just to the right of the column |
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| May Day Stadium, 1989 Photo: Oliver Wainwright Home to the Arirang Mass Games until last year, the stadium has recently been converted to host football matches |
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| Apartments on Kwangbok Street, 1989 Photo: Oliver Wainwright The 1989 Festival of Youth and Students saw the construction of the 4km-long dual carriageway of Kwangbok Street, a monumental boulevard of showcase apartment blocks, built to house 20,000 families. As Kim Jong-il writes, ‘shapes such as cylinder, windmill, polygon, letter S, and steps, were adopted for apartment blocks, to ensure a rich variety’ |
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| Arena on Chongchun Sports Street, 1989 Photo: Oliver Wainwright One of the many expressive concrete gymnasiums that line Chongchun Sports Street – an area built for the 1989 Festival of Youth and Students, including a weightlifting gymnasium shaped like a pair of dumbbells and a badminton hall modelled on the arc of a flying shuttlecock |
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| Planetarium at the Three Revolutions Exhibition, 1992 Photo: Oliver Wainwright The 250-acre complex of the Three Revolutions Exhibition includes six vast halls dedicated to the ideological, technical and cultural achievements of North Korea, from the Hall of the Juche Idea to the Hall of Heavy Industry – and this rather wonderful planetarium (sadly ‘closed for renovation’) |
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| Arch of Reunification, 2001 Photo: Oliver Wainwright Reaching across the main highway into Pyongyang in symbolic union, one figure represents the North, the other represents the South. Which is which, you might ask? You will always get the same answer: ‘They are both the same, because Korea is one!’ |
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| Changjon Street apartments, 2012 Photo: Oliver Wainwright The 47-storey cylindrical shafts of the Changjon St apartments stand like an outpost of Shenzhen at a central crossroads, nicknamed ‘Pyonghattan’ by foreign diplomats. The 18-tower complex was finished in less than a year |
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| Indoor Stadium, 1973 Photo: Oliver Wainwright Providing seating for 20,000 spectators, this vast gymnasium building is used for large political meetings and sporting events, from basketball and volleyball to table tennis and tug of war. The large tarmac space next door has become a popular skating spot |
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| Moranbong Theatre, 1954 Photo: Koryo Tours One of the first post-independence buildings, the theatre hosted the first general people’s assembly after the Japanese occupation, in which Kim Il-sung was elected president. It fuses neoclassical principles with historical Korean motifs, such as octagonal columns and a green pantile rooftop. It was sadly subject to ‘modernisation’ in 2005, which saw the historic interior ripped out |
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| Inside the Mangyongdae Schoolchildren’s Palace, 1989 Photo: Eddo Hartmann/Koryo Group Situated on the Heroic Youth Motorway on the edge of the Kwangbok residential area, this massive six-storey palace accommodates more than 650 rooms in which 5,400 children can pursue all sorts of after-school activities. Its semi-circular wings apparently symbolise the loving embrace of a mother |
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| Taedongmun Cinema, 1955 Photo: Koryo Tours Another example of the early post-independence neoclassical style, with the same octagonal columns and a traditional Korean roof, also featuring statues of a worker, soldier and peasant above the cornice. One again, it was ‘modernised’ in 2008, with very little of the historic interior surviving intact |
Source: Pyongyang: an architectural tour through the ages – in pictures
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