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We all know that buildings don't always turn out like the renderings. Last-minute changes and real-life materials can all cause discrepancies between the vision and reality of a project. In our weekly Flash Forward Friday feature, we take a look at how different projects stack up.
The notorious Ryugyong Hotel in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang is the tallest and probably the most famous unoccupied skyscraper in the world. The 105-storey, 330-metre supertall started construction in 1987 with an intention to open the pyramid-shaped building in time for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in June 1989. That of course did not happen, and although structural completion was accomplished in 1992, the collapse of the Soviet Union led to an economic crisis that put the brakes on construction. The tallest structure in North Korea would have also been the tallest hotel in the world once it accepted bookings. That accolade is now officially out of reach thanks to the 2009 completion of the 333-metre-tall Rose Rayhaan by Rotana in Dubai.
The shell of the Ryugyong Hotel stood as a beastly monolith in the city for years, with its surviving tower crane perched atop the structure still providing some glimmer of hope that work on the infamous landmark would one day resume. With developer Orascom Group taking over the reins, that day came in 2008, when the blue-hued cladding depicted in renderings slapped outside the site finally began crawling up the tower. The exterior was fully glazed by 2011, replacing its post-apocalyptic aesthetic with the futuristic veneer that was originally intended. The vision laid out by Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers was at least partially fulfilled at this point, though interior fittings still remained a priority. The plan was to ready a Kempinski-managed hotel for opening in 2012 to coincide with the centenary of "Eternal President" Kim Il-sung's birth, and when that target went unachieved, a 2013 partial completion date was set. That soft launch was also missed and the structure remains unopened to this day.
We will return next Friday with another comparison!
