10 Ugliest Buildings in the World

Originally Posted by gdl203

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Thanks gomestar - very interesting opinions and quite opposite to what my architect friends think of him. I know a few architects and used to live with one (granted, they're European), and all have a trememdous amount of respect for OMA/Koolhaas and what he brought to the archi world.

I think it might be a generational thing as many of her friends seem to share her opinion. One of her friends did his internship at OMA in Rotterdam but he didn't return (i dont know why).

I asked her to name off a few architects she really respects and she game back with Renzo Piano, Herzog (for very unique designs), Alvar Aalto, Gaudi, Terraghi.

And this building here which she claims is one of the most stunning buildings she has ever been in (and it's the crematorium she mentioned earlier):
http://architectureinberlin.wordpres...w-crematorium/

Originally Posted by robin

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I hope it's destroyed in an earthquake.

The cathedral always looks to me like it's designed to survive an earthquake or maybe nuclear bombs.

The man just piles crumpled paper together to get the forms for his buildings!

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The Disney Hall gift shop sells actually sells ceramic versions of crumpled paper as paperweights. But I generally love his expressive style, and how you can see different bits of the building interplaying with each other. There are some parts of WDCH that I love hanging out in during intermissions just to space out on the geometry of the interior.

--Andre

Originally Posted by gomestar

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I think it might be a generational thing as many of her friends seem to share her opinion. One of her friends did his internship at OMA in Rotterdam but he didn't return (i dont know why).

I asked her to name off a few architects she really respects and she game back with Renzo Piano, Herzog (for very unique designs), Alvar Aalto, Gaudi, Terraghi.

And this building here which she claims is one of the most stunning buildings she has ever been in (and it's the crematorium she mentioned earlier):
http://architectureinberlin.wordpres...w-crematorium/

She can't be very wrong if she mentioned Piano first in her list of favorite architects.

Originally Posted by gdl203

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She can't be very wrong if she mentioned Piano first in her list of favorite architects.

her thesis project was very heavily influenced by Renzo Piano. I look forward to the day when I can afford to have her build us a house

Not this building specifically, but the entire "Nouveau McMansion" style is far uglier than anything the Brutalists could dream up, IMO.

^Ha. My ex-wife's sister lives in a house almost identical to this one. They think they're big-timers.

They drink with extended pinkies!

Originally Posted by StephenHero

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I nominate Daniel Libeskind's new **** pile in Covington, Kentucky.

Extra demerits for fouling up the view to a Roebling bridge.

Originally Posted by Dakota rube

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^Ha. My ex-wife's sister lives in a house almost identical to this one. They think they're big-timers.

They drink with extended pinkies!

Could your ex-wife and my fiance in fact be the same person?

Yes, McMansions are like a prosumer version of Las Vegas.

Originally Posted by Pennglock

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Extra demerits for fouling up the view to a Roebling bridge.
I spent like three hours photographing that bridge -- why I was down at the river to begin with. It's lovely. Got one shot out of a hundred. ~ H

Originally Posted by v0rtex

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Not this building specifically, but the entire "Nouveau McMansion" style is far uglier than anything the Brutalists could dream up, IMO.

Brutalism is unappreciated, and besides, it has strong intellectual tenets unlike the Hummer H2-driving family homestead here.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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Brutalism is unappreciated, and besides, it has strong intellectual tenets unlike the Hummer H2-driving family homestead here.

I agree, and I like brutalism but I believe it is that intellectuality that perhaps leaves it under appreciated.

Originally Posted by AndrewRogers

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I agree, and I like brutalism but I believe it is that intellectuality that perhaps leaves it under appreciated.

Or rather the results of those intellectual theories.

So many buildings that try to do something new are often hated at first and later accepted. The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco is one that comes to mind. When first built virtually everyone hated it. Now it is accepted as iconic.

For a long time, Victorians were deemed unacceptable and now they're beloved.

Originally Posted by pocketsquareguy

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So many buildings that try to do something new are often hated at first and later accepted. The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco is one that comes to mind. When first built virtually everyone hated it. Now it is accepted as iconic.
This goes both ways. In fact the initial critical reaction is often going to be more positive than the public's on a work of originality and vice versa for a classical revival building. Robert Stern has made a career from building his critical reputation from the public reaction 20-30 years after the completion of projects in a way that transcends trends of short lifespans. His entire mission is building architecture that is simply ignored or modestly noticed in the context of well liked historical surroundings. I was going through some old (60-80's) architecture magazines last week doing some research and found some positive reviews of urban design proposals that would be lambasted today with Pruitt Igo and Boston City Hall being the most notorious of such projects to garner critical praise polarized from the general public reaction. Some buildings are correctly labeled hit or miss from day one (Libeskind in Berlin, Gehry in Bilbao, Holl is Kansas City, the WWII Memorial in DC) but more often a building's definitive critical reception is completely unrelated to initial impressions (Vietnam Memorial in DC, Yamasaki's WTC) . Nature and it's effects on the wear is a part of that and so is the human tendency to find things new and unique and assign them an inflated importance or give them a damaging chastisement.