Tour operators, Koryo Group, commission architects from Paektusan Architectural Institute in North Korea to design the future
WHAT happens when a country cut off from the rest of the world is asked to design the future? Here is a rare look inside the super-secret republic.
SUPER secretive and cut off from the rest of the world, North Korea remains a country bound by a strict communist regime where creativity is rarely allowed to flourish.
So what happens when a tour operator requests that architects from North Korea create drawings of what the future of tourism could like if there were no limits in place?
Koryo Group, a tour operator based in Beijing that organises trips to the heavily guarded republic, gave a member of the Paektusan Architectural Institute in Pyongyang an open brief to create futuristic designs for sustainable tourism in North Korea with no limits on costs, scale of physical possibilities.
The result was a series of drawings that showcases a rare insight and vision into the mindset of North Koreans that has combined elements of Soviet-era communist influence with space-age designs resembling the cartoon, The Jetsons.
On display at the Venice Architecture Biennale in Italy, the paintings are the result of four years of work by Nick Bonner from Koryo Group who commissioned the series with the Paektusan Architecural Institute.
The ideas for the future show surprisingly modern influences from a country that has been cut off from the rest of the world since 1948.
Bonner told CNN: “there is very little exposure to contemporary architecture in North Korea,” as the career path of an architect in North Korea is very structured.
“All architects (in North Korea) are trained at the University of Architecture and all work for the government. There are no private projects,” he said.
“In a way, it’s not much different than working for a council — limited projects, but the better you are the more chance you have of working on more interesting projects, and the more chance of influencing design.”
However the architect who led this project “drew upon his own thoughts and experiences,” with space-age hoverships sitting on blue conical towers, buildings shaped like spinning-tops sitting in lush mountainside and glass bubble trains meandering through valleys.
One image shows a flying house that doubles as a hovercraft while another shows a modern looking bridge that connects the mountains of Myohyansgsan.
“Apart from blocks of architecture that reflect Soviet influence, there is a certain futuristic style (and) modernism in many of the buildings”, Bonner said.
The communist ideal of co-operatives can be seen in the designs with one picture showing a silk co-op as a hi-tech, low-energy artisans’ commune with circular buildings modelled on traditional Korean spinning wheels and wrapped in blue solar panels.
Another demonstrates the ideology of self-reliance and shows a Bird’s Nest villa designed as a communal retreat with clusters of interconnected pagodas for group holidays and corporate team-bonding trips.
“The tourist benefits from being in the company of artisans, and the ability to learn new skills or just indulge in the beauty of the area,” said an anonymous architect.
For a rare look inside the world’s most secretive country, Koryo Group offers an architectural tour of North Korea in October this year.
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