Something Different Day 5

Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea

The building is also known as the 105 Building, a reference to its number of floors. Construction began in 1987 with planned completion in 1989. However, after several delays, construction was eventually halted in 1992; the Dissolution of the Soviet Union had resulted in widespread economic disruptions in North Korea and shortages of raw materials.

The hotel stood topped out but without windows or interior fittings for the next sixteen years. Construction resumed in April 2008 under the supervision of the Orascom Group of Egypt, which has invested heavily in the North Korean mobile telephony and construction industries. The company expected to complete exterior work on the building in 2010, with interior work on the hotel's 360,000 square metres (3,900,000 sq ft) of floor space taking until 2012 or later.

The hotel rises to a height of 330 metres (1,080 ft), making it the most prominent feature of Pyongyang's skyline and by far the largest structure in North Korea. Construction of the Ryugyong was intended to be completed in time for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in June 1989; had this been achieved, it would have held the title of world's tallest hotel. The unfinished building was not surpassed in height by any new hotel until the 2009 completion of the spire atop the Rose Tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Ryugyong remains the only hotel in the world with more than 100 stories, and it is currently the world's 35th tallest building (alongside the China World Trade Center Tower III) in terms of total height and has the 4th highest number of floors.