Inside North Korea (Unknown)(Book)

Offering a rare glimpse inside the Hermit Kingdom, Guardian journalist and photographer Oliver Wainwright takes us on an architectural journey behind closed doors in the world´s most secretive country. From the mosaic-lined lobbies of Soviet-era health centers to the candy-colored interiors of brand new theaters, his photographs shine a spotlight on the reclusive regime´s ambition to “turn the whole country into a socialist fairyland.”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.” 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 flimsy fantasy of prosperity and using architecture as a powerful anesthetic, numbing the population from the stark reality of his authoritarian regime.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,
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