Some Ugly Buildings Around the World
Dr.Subramanian, Ph.D., FNAE, F.ASCE, M.ACI Narayanan
The world’s top architects often love to push boundaries. Sometimes, their attempts are praised by critics as extraordinary buildings with awful looks, but other times they are considered as ugly or not beautiful. Six buildings, that have been dubbed among the “ugliest” buildings in the world, are included here. Readers may post the ugly buildings they have seen in the comments with photographs.
Museum of Pop Culture – Seattle, Washington
This museum is located across from the iconic, slender Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. When I saw the building, I wondered who designed this building and took photos of the same. Later I found that it was designed by the famous architect, Frank Gehry. This Museum of Pop Culture has attracted ridicule and delight in equal measure. Late architecture critic, Herbert Muschamp, of The New York Times, famously wrote that “this building looks like something that crawled out of the sea, rolled over, and died.” Yet, if you catch it on a sunny day - when the light reflects off its 21,000 individually cut aluminum and steel shingles- it is remarkably photogenic. The energy and playfulness of the structure reflect the pop culture found within its curvaceous walls. Surprisingly, Frank Gehry has designed several buildings that may not appeal to several onlookers. Many of Gehry's designs are disliked first because their form is incoherent and secondly, it is irrelevant to their structure and program. Gehry's Louis Vuitton Foundation Building in Paris is another building that was disliked by many. For example, Oliver Wainwright of the Guardian commented that the building is an "indulgence of over-engineering." It is, "in reality, a hell of a lot of steel columns and glue-laminated timber beams, thrown together in a riotous cat’s cradle of zig-zagging struts and brackets, props, and braces." In the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, which opened on May 21, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada Gehry stuck giant tinfoils mimicking distorted buildings only on the main face of the actual building's form.
Gehry’s buildings may follow the style of Deconstructivism, which is often referred to as post-structuralist for its ability to go beyond the modalities of structural definition. Its architectural application tends to depart from modernism in its absence of cultural givens such as societal goals and functional necessity. Gehry’s own Santa Monica residence is a commonly cited example of deconstructivist architecture.
Selfridges Building – Birmingham, England
Selfridges' first department store outside of London was tempered with dismay over the building that would house it. Birmingham residents were divided as to whether the Selfridges Building, completed in 2003, was an innovative piece of architecture that would shine a new spotlight on Britain’s second-largest city or an outlandish monstrosity that would blight England’s West Midlands region for decades to come. it is nicknamed “Brummies”! Some consider the building’s aluminum disc detailing to be the bulging eyes of a fly, while others said it resembled medieval chainmail. Five years after it was completed, the building topped a 2008 poll on the U.K.’s ugliest buildings.
J. Edgar Hoover Building – Washington, D.C.
Seeing the beauty in Brutalism can be a challenge, which is perhaps why critics of the J. Edgar Hoover Building will argue it belongs on this list. This bulky behemoth, home to the FBI headquarters, cost a staggering $126 million to construct, going well over budget by the time it was finished in 1974. In its 2006 guide to the architecture of Washington, D.C., the American Institute of Architects (AIA) described it as “the swaggering bully of the neighborhood” and “ungainly, ill-mannered and seemingly looking for trouble.” Five decades after it opened, the building hasn’t aged well and is, as one Washington Post headline unequivocally declared, “falling apart.”
Aoyama Technical College – Tokyo, Japan
Opened in 1990, it’s the work of Japanese architect Makoto Sei Watanabe, who aimed to create something that was “capable of moving people’s hearts and giving them a physical thrill.” Yet, for someone seemingly focused on emotional impact, the architect worked unusually, using mathematical algorithms and computer models to design the structure. And although the building he designed to house Aoyama Technical College may not excite passersby in the way he hoped, it’s certainly a provocative talking point. Those who dislike the college building in Tokyo’s Shibuya district might claim it’s what you’d end up with if you cross a cockroach with a robot and throw in a random splash of color for good measure!
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Monster Building – Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s Monster Building -as locals have nicknamed it - is not one, but five buildings grouped together. Built during the 1960s in the Quarry Bay residential district, the complex comprises Oceanic Mansion, Yick Cheong Building, Fook Cheong Building, Montane Mansion, and Yick Fat Building. These densely packed apartments were erected due to the need for housing for a rapidly growing population- but, as some critics argue, with little consideration for aesthetics. However, thanks to its distinctive appearance, the complex has been featured in several movies, including 2007’s Transformers and 1995’s Ghost in the Shell. It has also become a magnet for photographers, despite access to the inner courtyard is now restricted. The buildings are considered by many to be something of an eyesore.
The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland
In Buildworld's survey of the world's ugliest buildings, the Scottish Parliament Building came out on top. At the time of their study, 42.07% of tweets that mentioned the building were negative. According to the Scottish Parliament's archive, the building, which was completed in 2004, is made from a mixture of steel, oak, and granite. According to Buildword, "The project was unpopular from the start, as a national building designed by a foreign architect that quickly spiraled ten times over budget and way beyond its deadline."
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Retired Associate Professor at Applied Mechanics, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, MSU, Baroda
4 个月Good information. We must also know about ugly buildings alsp
Remote Sensing Expert
4 个月very cool