Middlemen, private jets, communication blackouts: providing design services to the world's most reclusive regime isn't easy. Mark Byrnes describes how one architecture and planning firm was selected to redesign North Korea's airports.
"Not many architecture firms can claim (or would even want to claim?) North Korea as a client, but one firm in China has seemingly found its way into making Kim Jong Un a happy, repeat customer," writes Byrnes. "PLT Planning and Architecture, with offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, had previously proposed a redesign for the Kamgang tourism zone airport in the North Korean port city of Wonsan. The firm imagined the military airport transformed for civilian use via two sleek terminals designed to resemble the drums used in traditional Korean musical performances."
"Their design apparently pleased North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un. 'We were told that Kim was happy with our design,' PLT planner Otto Cheng told the South China Morning Post earlier this week, in a fascinating interview that offers a glimpse at how the North Korean government goes about reaching out to private, outside firms."
Read the full story: How North Korea Commissions Architects
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority