Book: Pyongyang Architectural and Cultural Guide

Book: Pyongyang Architectural and Cultural Guide
(Image credit: press)

Philipp Meuser's two-volume book set, entitled 'Pyongyang: Architectural and Cultural Guide', is an architectural guide to North Korea's capital. Volume 1 is perfect for the suitcase and should pass muster with even the most switched-on border guard. Volume 2, which contains the real meat of the matter, presents a sober analysis of a society paralysed by propaganda, secrecy and insularity. Pictured here from the guide is 'Night view of Kim Il Sung Square'. Click 'next' for more images from the book set

The world's horrified fascination with North Korea stepped up a gear in December with the demise of Kim Jong-il and the seamless installation of Kim Jong-un. The former ruler's penchant for mass spectacle, total social repression and an apparent obsession with the day-to-day workings of his country's creaking industrial infrastructure look set to be continued with the same fervent zeal by his successor.

Travelling to North Korea isn't easy, but it is possible. We managed to stop by in W* issue 45 (2002), when our anonymous photographer provided an awe-inspiring insight into a world of shoddy system-building, ego-crazed statuary and synchronised celebration. This was the first in-depth look at Pyongyang's architectural landmarks and attractions to be published in the West.

If you're lucky enough to find your way into the country, and you're partial to a spot of dictatorship tourism, North Korea is still the place to go. And now there's an architectural guide to Pyongyang to help you distinguish between iconic obelisks and pre-fab concrete panel systems at a 1000 paces.

Philipp Meuser's two-volume set is a guide with a difference, however. Volume 1 is perfect for the suitcase and should pass muster with even the most switched-on border guard. All the imagery and information about Pyongyang's expansive but aesthetic underwhelming built environment has been provided by Pyongyang Foreign Languages Publishing House, one of the state's deathly earnest propaganda outlets, and is presented straight, without comment.

To back it up, you need Volume 2, which contains the real meat of the matter. 'There are very few places in the world where architecture is as inextricably linked to state ideology as in North Korea,' one section begins, and throughout this second book, Philipp Meuser presents a sober analysis of a society paralysed by propaganda, secrecy and insularity.

Pyongyang's 'model city' credentials - as dictated by the celebratory output of the Foreign Languages Publishing House - are revealed to be transparently false. Nevertheless, this is an environment rich in a very particular form of artistry, and the role of art and architecture as a tool of social control is laid bare for all to see.

View from the Grand People's Study House across Kim Il-sung Square to Department Store No.1 and the Juche Tower

View from the Grand People's Study House across Kim Il-sung Square to Department Store No.1 and the Juche Tower on the opposite bank of the river

(Image credit: press)

Chollima Monument

Chollima Monument (1961)

(Image credit: press)

View of Thongil Residential Area, with the Football Stadium, Pyongyang International House of Cinema, Yanggakdo International Hotel j

View of Thongil Residential Area, with the Football Stadium, Pyongyang International House of Cinema, Yanggakdo International Hotel just visible in the distance (in the centre)

(Image credit: press)

Grand Monument on Mansu Hill

Grand Monument on Mansu Hill (1972)

(Image credit: press)

Puhung Metro Station

Puhung Metro Station (1987)

(Image credit: press)

Waiting room of the women's hair salon in the Changgwangsan Health and Recreation Centre

Waiting room of the women's hair salon in the Changgwangsan Health and Recreation Centre

(Image credit: press)

Housing Developments

Housing Developments

(Image credit: press)

Urban propaganda, declaring: 'Our Leader is our Sun'

Urban propaganda, declaring: 'Our Leader is our Sun'

(Image credit: press)

Urban propaganda, reading: 'Ideology, fighting sprit, way of life. The same as out ancestors!'

Urban propaganda, reading: 'Ideology, fighting sprit, way of life. The same as out ancestors!'

(Image credit: press)

Construction of apartment blocks on Thongil Street

Construction of apartment blocks on Thongil Street (1989)

(Image credit: press)

Kim Il Sung Square

Kim Il Sung Square, surrounded by the Communist Party Headquarters and the Ministry of Foreign Trade, with Kwangbok Residential Area in the background

(Image credit: press)

The Party Foundation Monument features the three pillars of society: works

The Party Foundation Monument features the three pillars of society: works (hammer), peasants (sickle), and intellectuals (calligraphy brush)

(Image credit: press)

The head of Kwangbok Street is marked by cylindrical residential towers and wave-shaped housing slabs

The head of Kwangbok Street is marked by cylindrical residential towers and wave-shaped housing slabs that are closer to the spirit of Le Corbusier than to Korean traditions

(Image credit: press)

Rear of a residential building in the central district

Rear of a residential building in the central district (2009)

(Image credit: press)

The Arch of Triumph (1982), built to commemorate the Korean resistance to Japan

The Arch of Triumph (1982), built to commemorate the Korean resistance to Japan from 1925 to 1945

(Image credit: press)

Thongil Residential Area

Thongil Residential Area

(Image credit: press)

Mansudae Assembly Hall

Mansudae Assembly Hall

(Image credit: press)

Arch of Reunification

Arch of Reunification (2011)

(Image credit: press)

Pyongyang Grand Teatre

Pyongyang Grand Teatre (1960, modernized 2009)

(Image credit: press)

Pyongyang Circus

Pyongyang Circus

(Image credit: press)

The Grand People's Study House

The Grand People's Study House (1982)

(Image credit: press)

Mangyongdae Schoolchildren's Palace

Mangyongdae Schoolchildren's Palace (1989)

(Image credit: press)

Pyongyang Koryo Hotel

Pyongyang Koryo Hotel (1985)

(Image credit: press)

Ice Rink

Ice Rink (1981)

(Image credit: press)

VIP grandstand at the Ice Rink

VIP grandstand at the Ice Rink

(Image credit: press)

Abandoned construction site of the Ryugyong Hotel

Abandoned construction site of the Ryugyong Hotel (2005)

(Image credit: press)

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.