The Ryugyong Hotel, in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, has had an unfortunate start in life. Construction of the 105 storey, 330m high building, the 47th tallest in the world, commenced in 1987 and it's still not finished. But there are plans for it to open, albeit in scaled-down form, in the near future.
It was victim to an economic downturn in the country, with reports of poor construction and the use of inferior materials (like that's supposed to be a surprise?)
But I think that the criticism of its design is a little excessive:
It was voted "Worst Building in the History of Mankind" by Esquire magazine in 2008.
The American publication called it "hideously ugly, even by communist standards."
Personally, I think it looks like something out of Thunderbirds or Flash Gordon, and for that it is to be commended!
I can't say that I'd want to stay there though.
bastard by name
bastard by nature
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