North Korea may be the hermit kingdom, a country cut off from the rest of the world, but it remains one of the most intriguing places t...
North Korea may be the hermit kingdom, a country cut off from the rest of the world, but it remains one of the most intriguing places to visit. It may be described as a country ruled by nuclear trigger-happy demagogue who demands absolute loyalty on a populace that is intimidated by secret police and realigned thru strict re-education regimen, it also has delusions of utopian grandeur with its visions of eternal peace and prosperity that the West and neighboring South Korea is they say, so envious about.
In this future vision, an architect - who has never left North Korea - imagines a future with futuristic buildings that look eerily similar to what the anime Dragonball Z envisioned cities look like. It also reminds me of the Capsule Corp.'s headquarters where they made those ingenious capsules that transforms into different vehicles and gadgets.
Even without these future buildings, the landscape of Pyongyang and some major cities are already remarkably awesome since you will never see these types of structure anywhere else. To project a progressive and advanced society, the leadership of the Kims have went great lengths to designed their cities like a workers' utopia under their esteemed benevolence.
The visually fascinating spectacles are the gargantuan structures that were reinforced by its ideology developed after the in-concluded war and years of repressive policies that ultimately reduced its populace into mere sightseers of its leaders' political theme park.
Pyongyang was rebuilt after the ashes of the war and it was widely believed that Romanian strongman Nicolae Ceausescu was so impressed by the their brand of architecture that he wished to copy it! The city's character reflects so much of a fictional totalitarian state portrayed in movies that it may have influenced film makers in utopian and dystopian science fiction genres.
As North Korea's capital city, Pyongyang reflects its socialist ideals and you are never too far away from all the ideological traces, whether in the form of propaganda posters and mosaics on the streets, or the monumental scale of the Dear Leader's portrait that tower above you.
Despite the ideological stamp of approval, there is also a playful allure that you see in the images. It's all part of their propaganda to project a happy and contented populace. There is a retrofuturistic appeal to tourists who may be fortunate enough to visit this country. As long as the secret police allows you to document your journey visiting these sites in the future.
Although these structures don't exist yet, many cities have envisioned grander and out-of-this-world monumental projects that may reflect what North Korea is ought to be. From Dubai to Beijing, ostentatious showcase of one-of-a-kind structures have been made from world-class hotels to colossal man-made wonders. We may never know how feasible these future building projects are but one thing is for sure, you will never say no to the Dear Leader.
The architects who have envisioned these science fiction structures may have been trapped in a time warp without the influence of the latest building and construction trends. They are relatively unfamiliar with modern architecture and technology outside of North Korea so it is quite interesting to know where they got their influence.
Despite the limitations and inadequacies, they have remained creative and ingenious enough to conceptualized designs that baffles our imaginations. If you look at the designs, they use wood and traditional construction methods in imaginative ways, reusing natural products in a traditional way. In other ways, they have imagined sheets of glass that capture solar energy to regulate internal temperature and even store energy. They may not have this exact technology but they know it exists or will exist in the future.
The are looking to integrate ecological features so that people can live harmony with nature such the case of the Bird's Nest hotel you see above. The interiors also blends well so that what you see inside reflects on what's on the outside.
With no telephone and Internet connection to the outside world, the North Korean imagination remains in the Cold War past with Jetson's-like interpretation of a flying spaceship hotel and retrofuturistic mass commuter trains. Its design and architectural community is basically cut off from outside influences.
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