July 18, 2008
the worst building in history
An Egyptian company has resumed construction on what has been called the worst building in history (alternately known as the hotel of doom) in North Korea. The building was begun in 1988 as a response to development in South Korea spurred by its involvement in the Olympic games.
As the North’s economy took a deeper turn for the worse in the 1990s the empty shell became a symbol of the country’s failure, earning nicknames “Hotel of Doom” and “Phantom Hotel.”
Bruno Giberti, associate head of California Polytechnic State University’s Department of Architecture, said the project was typical of what has been produced recently in many cities trying to show their emerging wealth by constructing gigantic edifices that were not related in scale to anything else around them.
“If this is the worst building in the world, the runners up are in Vegas and Shanghai,” said Giberti.
Touche.
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