Research Catalog

Model city Pyongyang

Title
Model city Pyongyang / Cristiano Bianchi, Kristina Drapić ; foreword by Pico Iyer ; in collaboration with Koryo Studio.
Author
Bianchi, Cristiano
Publication
Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2019]

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TextUse in library HT169.K6 B536 2019bOff-site

Details

Additional Authors
  • Drapić, Kristina
  • Iyer, Pico
  • Koryo Studio (Firm)
Description
223 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), plans; 19 x 22 cm
Summary
Many "model" cities, both imagined and physical, have existed throughout history; from the ideal cities of the Renaissance, Urbino, Pienza and Ferrara, to modernist utopias, such as Brasilia or Chandigarh. North Korea's Pyongyang, however, is arguably unique. Entirely rebuilt following the Korean War (1950-53), the city was planned and fully implemented to model a single ideological vision - a guide for an entire state. As a result, the urban fabric of Pyongyang displays an extraordinary architectural cohesion and narrative, artfully captured in the pages of this book. In recent years, many of Pyongyang's buildings have been redeveloped to remove interior features or to render facades unrecognizable. From the city's monumental axes to its symbolic sports halls and experimental housing concepts, this timely book offers comprehensive visual access to Pyongyang's restricted buildings, which still preserve the DPRK's original vision for a city designed "for the people". Often kitsch, colourful and dramatic, Pyongyang's architecture can be reminiscent of the aesthetic of a Wes Anderson film, where it is difficult to distinguish between reality and theatre. Reflecting a culture that has carefully crafted its own narrative, the backdrop of each photograph has been replaced with a colour gradient, evoking the idealized pastel skies of the country's propaganda posters.
Subject
  • Architecture > Korea (North) > P'yŏngyang
  • Architecture > Korea (North) > P'yŏngyang > Pictorial works
  • Architecture
  • P'yŏngyang (Korea) > Pictorial works
  • Korea (North) > P'yŏngyang
Genre/Form
  • illustrated books.
  • Illustrated works
  • Pictorial works
  • Illustrated works.
  • Ouvrages illustrés.
Contents
Monumental space -- Cities within the city -- Social condensers -- Icons -- Pyongyang next
ISBN
  • 9780262043335
  • 0262043335
LCCN
2020301370
OCLC
  • on1089962617
  • 1089962617
  • SCSB-9586010
Owning Institutions
Princeton University Library