I’m in the minority here - I didn’t think it was that ugly. The new look is cool though.
Who’s “they”? Kim wanted the biggest hotel in the world, and no-one in the entire company was brave enough to tell him it was a bad idea.
Oh, come on! That isn’t even in the running for “Ugliest Building in the World” We’ve had lots of uglier buildings pointed out on this Board. There’s even a current thread on it:
With the new cladding, it kinda looks like the JLA headquarters, or something.
I always thought it looked cool, but the new glass makes it look straight out of Vegas.
I dislike modernistic concrete because it’s dreary and depressing, but all-glass is worse, in that it’s oppressively opulent. And I think that as a middle class person, imagine what the peasants think of this glittering example of unobtainable wealth.
And in the thread you linked to, the first post in turn links to an article on “The World’s Ugliest Buildings”, in which the Ryugyong Hotel is… no. 2! 
(And they put the SIS building at no. 3. :mad: I think it is truly a thing of beauty.)
Still looks like the agitator column from a giant washing machine.
Maybe if they build a spiraling roller coaster around it, they’ll raise occupancy rates.
Yeah, but the fact that only one side has been fixed up doubles the remaining creepiness factor by 2.
Right…so the hotel is on that list though, right?
Needs anti-aliasing.
You’re on to something.
Damn you. I was going to say it looks like an 8-bit version of this.
Update: Those in the know insist the 105-story Ryugyong Hotel will open next year, run by the luxury Kempinski chain. Story here.
I liked the previous sandy/grey version better. It had more of a traditional ziggurat look.
Did they finish the glass facade on all the sides, or is that picture from just the one prettied-up side still?
Dunno. Now that you mention, you do always see only the one side, don’t you?
I always thought that would be a hell of a cool-looking building if they finished it. I actually liked the spookiness of it when it was unfinished, but a building that doesn’t function is not much good.
I guess what I’m saying is, the glass gives it one look. It could have worked without the glass facade, though, as it was a very imposing building anyway.
Is it facing south? Maybe it’s a half-assed plot to blind South Korea with reflected light.