Inside North Korea

<p>Erased by bombing during the Korean War, North Korea’s trophy capital of Pyongyang was <strong>entirely rebuilt from scratch from 1953</strong>, 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.”<br /><br /> Under the present leader, Kim Jong Un, construction has ramped up apace—“Let us turn the whole country into a socialist fairyland,” declares one of his official patriotic slogans. He is rapidly transforming Pyongyang into a playground, conjuring a <strong>flimsy fantasy of prosperity</strong> and using <strong>architecture as a powerful anesthetic</strong>, numbing the population from the stark reality of his authoritarian regime.<br /><br /><em>Guardian</em> journalist and photographer <strong>Oliver Wainwright</strong> takes us on an <strong>eye-opening tour behind closed doors in the most secretive country in the world</strong>, 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 <strong>dazzling color palettes</strong>. 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.<br /><br /> This collection features about <strong>200 photographs</strong> with insightful captions, as well as an introductory essay where Wainwright <strong>charts the history and development of Pyongyang</strong>, explaining how the architecture and interiors embody the national “Juche” ideology and questioning what the future holds for the architectural ambitions of this enigmatic country.</p>