Our captivation by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka North Korea) may rely in part on our not having seen what it looks like. In 2016, London-based architecture and design critic for the Guardian Oliver Wainwright was invited to the capital, Pyongyang, with other journalists and has now produced a volume of his photographs and texts, in English, German, and French, focused mainly on the city. The tantalizing compendium provides a snapshot of a “reclusive country in all its kaleidoscopic color,” including lavish interiors he describes as “fascinating stage sets.”
Pyongyang was entirely rebuilt under the leadership of the Eternal President Kim Il Sung following the city’s destruction by U.S. bombing during the Korean War. When Pyongyang was replanned, a Moscow-trained architect named Kim Jong Hui left 25 percent of Pyongyang devoted to buildings. The rest emulated aspects of early modern Western urban planning—with gardens, long axes, and expansive squares (along with easy access for the military).
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