Inside North Korea

I really interesting read on the architecture of North Korea.

Photobooks titled Inside Korea really mean Inside Pyongyang, for a photographers to wander around the rest of the country would be rather unusual. As the city was significantly destroyed during the Korean War it provided an ideal opportunity for the authoritarian leaders to create a showpiece city and this what the photos in the book reveal. The various photographers have minders suggesting what to photograph and the best angle (to avoid including anything in the shot that would look too negative). Of course the result of this interference means that the city looks very antiseptic and lifeless, devoid of any hustle and bustle of a typical city.The six chapters: City views and housing; Monuments; Museums; Sport; Leisure; Pyongyang Metro offer a good exterior overview of the city and as with other books I've seen the Metro is usually the last chapter. The many high rise housing blocks look impressive from the outside but missing are any photos of what kitchens, sitting rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms actually look like. In the rest of the book there are some interiors but they look very lifeless and posed.These photo of Pyongyang make the place look quite impressive and it provides living quarters for most of its citizens who are civil servants and the military, unlike the rest of the countries population who have to live and work in much less opulent circumstances.

I was looking forward to reading this book, but from the beginning it seemed that something was missing... yep, it was missing a soul. The book looks like it was rushed from Taschen's HQ. The photos are very good, but were taken from several photographers (a few from Getty images), therefore lacking a coherent sytle. The descriptions are very confusing, appear every other page, and are a bundle description from the previous several pages.The last pages of the book, dedicated to the subway, make it seem that the book editors realized that a few pages would be blank and had to put even more pictures from the subway (many of them are almost identical to the previous ones).Taschen's books usually have a soul, this doesn't.

How delightful that a rabid supporter of LTNs should produce a capitalist representation of Pyongyang - a Potemkin apology - that demonstrates perfectly the depth of his beliefs: the depth of a puddle. Regarding LTNs he confuses volition with compulsion. Regarding the NK regime, ditto. Of course we must change, and change for the better: but not at the point of a traffic fine, gunpoint, or gang-rape at the local police station (IRGC/morality police)…

Fue un regalo para mi padre y la verdad es que está muy guay. Es bastante curioso e interesante si te agrada saber de diferentes culturas.Lo que más me gusto fue la estética y las fotos.

It's a chilling look into north korea. The pictures show a lot that is yet to be said.

Unerwartete Einblicke in das Leben Nordkoreas. Ein sehr schöner Bildband, der zum Schwelgen einlädt.

Muy buena calidad muy bonitas fotografías

An insightful and timely guide to architecture and design in North Korea. Excellent photographs, supplemented by informative text.