After years of abandonment, stalled development or economic crisis, some of the world’s most amazing buildings built to symbolize the city’s prosperity and vision, have fallen into ruin and instead come to epitomize national struggle. Such one example is the 105-story Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea. The construction of the pyramid-shaped building began in 1987 and was intended to be completed in 1989 in time for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students, but developers would face nearly every conceivable hurdle and by 1992 the project was abandoned.
Worlds Largest Abandoned Hotel -105-story Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea
In 2008, an Egyptian company, Orascom Telecom, which operates a mobile phone network in North Korea shelled out $180 million to complete the building’s glass facade and an antenna at the top.
In 2012, German luxury hotel group Kempinski announced plans to take over its management and open for business the following year, but after a journalist leaked a report on its pathetic conditions inside, the hotel group coincidentally announced disinterest.
Worlds Largest Abandoned Hotel -105-story Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea
When building first began, Ryugyong was on track to be the tallest hotel in the world. For now the colossal 330-meter tall building, with extravagant glass plating, which is also known as “Hotel of Doom”, the “Phantom Hotel”, and even, somewhat cruelly, “The Worst Building in the World” will keep its Guiness World Record as the tallest unoccupied building.
Worlds Largest Abandoned Hotel -105-story Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea
