One might expect North Korea?s capital, Pyongyang, to be a monotonous grey world. The reality is far from what we might imagine. I found that out as a architectural graduate student at the University of Toronto, where I researched the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the border between North and South Korea. As a Korean-Canadian, ever since I moved to Canada from South Korea at the age of 15, I?ve been frequently asked about North Korea. For most of the world, the country remains largely inscrutable, unknowable, invisible.
A view from the top of the Tower of the Juche Idea, looking northeast over symmetrically planned tower blocks. Showcase buildings include stepped ziggurats and curved serpentine blocks.
Countering this paucity of information, journalist Oliver Wainwright takes us on an extraordinary journey in his newly published book Inside North Korea. His introductory text and approximately 300 photographs with descriptive captions offer, in his words, ?a glimpse behind the closed doors of the Hermit Kingdom,? into a pastel-coloured cityscape that elicits ?the surreal feeling of walking into a Wes Anderson movie or a life-sized Polly Pocket toy.? The broad range of high-res, full-sized photos in Inside North Korea offer an intriguing opportunity to experience the atmosphere of dazzling colour palettes. ?The architecture continues the retro-futuristic style from previous years, with heavily sculpted concrete towers clad in gleaming white tiles with brightly coloured accen...