Inside North Korea collects Oliver Wainwright's gorgeous photos of the striking public aesthetic of a brutal dictatorship.
Erased by bombing during the Korean War, North Korea's trophy capital of Pyongyang was entirely rebuilt from scratch from 1953, in line with the vision of the nation's founder, Kim Il-sung. Designed as an imposing stage set, it is a place of grand axial boulevards linking gargantuan monuments, lined with stately piles of distinctly Korean flavor, to be "national in form and socialist in content."
Guardian journalist and photographer Oliver Wainwright takes us on an eye-opening tour behind closed doors in the most secretive country in the world, revealing that past the grand stone façades lie lavish wonder-worlds of marble and mosaic, coffered ceilings, and crystal chandeliers, along with new interiors in dazzling color palettes. Discover the palatial reading rooms of the Grand People's Study House, and peer inside the locker rooms of the recently renovated Rungrado May Day Stadium, ready to host a FIFA World Cup that will never come.
Check out the book here or via the publisher site:
This blog post by the publisher is also worth a read for those interested.
• Inside North Korea (via Taschen)