ruminations about architecture and design

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

north korea architecture day

So, this is a worker's paradise. The blue tinted buildings aren't just a phenomenon of N. Korea--I've seen pictures of blue buildings and blue roofs in S. Korea as well. There's something unsettling about this picture. Even if I hadn't been told it was in N. Korea I don't think I would have confused this with any city in the U.S. or Europe. There are no signs, and the street traffic is sparse, verging on non-existent. The windows in the buildings are just a bit too small and the massing of the structures has no overtly artistic gestures. Does this represent some sort of triumph for the tenets of modernism? Or, is it a bizarre distortion of idealistic principles?

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