PDA

View Full Version : What's the most shameful monstrosity ever built in your city?


Pages : 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8 9

Pandemonious
Dec 31, 2006, 5:36 PM
^Hate it.

kznyc2k
Jan 1, 2007, 8:55 PM
Boston's West End..

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5080/zlutwl2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

..used to look just like this - the North End

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/3668/zeeplh4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

But hey, who couldn't use a little bit of suburbia in the heart of a city?

staff
Jan 1, 2007, 10:09 PM
I kinda like how it stands out among the other hideous buildings on that street. :)
http://suprfile.com/get.php?id=djg7ev&get=1

vid
Jan 2, 2007, 1:02 PM
You can't say they didn't try, that's for sure.

alps
Jan 3, 2007, 12:56 AM
The N.S. provincial law courts building is pretty ugly:

http://www.foundlocally.com/halifax/images/TheLawCourtsBuilding.jpg

Especially given it's waterfront location, which has a LOT more potential:

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l217/halps00/174682144_166ad20de0_b.jpg

vid
Jan 3, 2007, 1:32 AM
Is it just me, or is Purdy starting to look a bit dated? ...

alps
Jan 3, 2007, 2:09 AM
Is it just me, or is Purdy starting to look a bit dated? ...

No! Noo! :eek:

It's all we've got! :eeekk:

It should hold us off until United Gulf is built, in 2100 at the rate we're going...

Independence
Jan 3, 2007, 12:00 PM
Not in my city, but definitely one of the worst towers I've ever seen!:D :yuck:

Tour de Lille - Lille, France

My god.... that dear architect must have been on illegal stuff by that time!

http://eras.free.fr/images/portz/CL03.jpg

:haha:

Distill3d
Jan 3, 2007, 5:10 PM
Not in my city, but definitely one of the worst towers I've ever seen!:D :yuck:

Tour de Lille - Lille, France

My god.... that dear architect must have been on illegal stuff by that time!

http://eras.free.fr/images/portz/CL03.jpg

:haha:


okay, you win. that is so nasty it crashed my computer :yes:

Ex-Ithacan
Jan 3, 2007, 5:21 PM
Awww, c'mon. It's a multi-functional facility. Works as an office building and a chair for King Kong. :yes:

texcolo
Jan 4, 2007, 12:56 AM
okay, you win. that is so nasty it crashed my computer :yes:

#1 Ugly building for the "Trying too Hard" Category.

rockyi
Jan 4, 2007, 12:57 AM
I think it looks like a giant pinball machine.

LMich
Jan 4, 2007, 1:31 AM
It's an office tower built over the top of a train station. They had to cantilever it over the station because the station was built to support a tower. I actually like it. It fact, the nearby Tour Lilleurope is also built over the top of another part of the station:

http://astrakoop.free.fr/lille/21.jpg

Dracmus
Jan 4, 2007, 1:45 AM
Not my city, but I did come across this little gem in Bluefield, WV:

http://suprfile.com/src/1/djg7ev/bluwv09.jpg

:yuck:

Oh good grief...and that one takes the cake it seems...

:yuck: :eek: :brickwall:

Notice it is abandoned too...and for good reason

Dracmus
Jan 4, 2007, 1:47 AM
You can't say they didn't try, that's for sure.

I agree...they certianly were aiming for the world's ugliest with that one.

The Jabroni
Jan 4, 2007, 4:26 AM
http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/5738/psb2zz3.jpg

Holy Mother of God! This has to be one of the ugliest pieces of architecture I have ever seen in North America. It remindes me of the communist government buildings in the Soviet Union during the 1960's and 70's. :yuck:

I have to walk by that building everyday just to go to school right across the street from it. That Neo-Commie block's Tyndall/limestone cladding is falling apart, which is why they built those covered structures over the sidewalks and the side of the building as you can see in that picture. No seriously, Stalin would be very proud of that building.:slob:

Another terrible building that should be on this list is the Radisson Hotel, formerly the Delta Winnipeg Hotel and others...

http://www.albahotels.com/hotels/photos/452771.jpg

Seriously, it's a huge cinder block just waiting for trouble...

Tom Servo
Jan 4, 2007, 9:30 AM
I'm glad I found this thread. In Chicago, amongst so much great architecture, there is an AWFUL amount of monstronsities. All along the lake, northside and southside, there are SO MANY of those ugly 1960's and 70's things that Sao Paulo is filled with. MOST of Old Town and the southern part of Lincoln Park looks like Sao Paulo. Also, there are a lot of REALLY bad 1980's and 90's shit throughout downtown.

http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/123NorthWacker-004.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/400EastRandolph-003.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/SouthLoop/1130SouthMichigan-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/GoldCoast/1000LakeShorePlaza-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/CityPlace-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/311SouthWacker-006.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/55WestWacker-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/GoldCoast/900NorthMichigan-006.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/McClurgCourtCenterA-002.jpg

There needs to be an effort to create more timeless designs. We also need to start rebuilding all the amazing architecture that this city has lost, a lot of which to monstrosities.
That's my opinion of bad architecture.

vid
Jan 4, 2007, 9:31 AM
I drew that one in Winnipeg. :)

pdxstreetcar
Jan 4, 2007, 9:48 AM
25th & Lovejoy Medical Building
Portland, OR

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/164/345223631_f62265e869_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/345227270_56fd605b15_o.jpg
:yuck:

alps
Jan 4, 2007, 8:24 PM
I'm glad I found this thread. In Chicago, amongst so much great architecture, there is an AWFUL amount of monstronsities. All along the lake, northside and southside, there are SO MANY of those ugly 1960's and 70's things that Sao Paulo is filled with. MOST of Old Town and the southern part of Lincoln Park looks like Sao Paulo. Also, there are a lot of REALLY bad 1980's and 90's shit throughout downtown.

There needs to be an effort to create more timeless designs. We also need to start rebuilding all the amazing architecture that this city has lost, a lot of which to monstrosities.
That's my opinion of bad architecture.

I like the second and last ones...and I'd take any of them here :D (except, maybe, the second-last one).

alps
Jan 4, 2007, 8:30 PM
Double post

Lecom
Jan 4, 2007, 9:22 PM
Not in my city, but definitely one of the worst towers I've ever seen!:D :yuck:

Tour de Lille - Lille, France

My god.... that dear architect must have been on illegal stuff by that time!

http://eras.free.fr/images/portz/CL03.jpg

:haha:
"Damn Italy, thinks it looks like a boot, huh? Well I'll show em what a REAL boot means!"

Independence
Jan 5, 2007, 1:39 PM
"Damn Italy, thinks it looks like a boot, huh? Well I'll show em what a REAL boot means!"


I'd say it looks like....I don't know? :) Crap? But I kinda liked Ex-Ithacan's idea of a King Kong Chair!


My first mind when I discovered this little beauty: what the hell...!?

Wonder how many people in Lille dislike this "crappy L at the station"....


Typical case of FAKE-ORIGINALITY!!!! Building crap is not a proof of a geniousity! :P



-

villelumiere
Jan 5, 2007, 2:33 PM
I don't have a picture and if I did I would be too ashamed to post the hideous monstrosity that is the Beaubourg musee de l'art moderne in the City of Light.

Right bank is about harmony, order and beauty. That kitchen sink does not belong.

Distill3d
Jan 5, 2007, 3:02 PM
I'm glad I found this thread. In Chicago, amongst so much great architecture, there is an AWFUL amount of monstronsities. All along the lake, northside and southside, there are SO MANY of those ugly 1960's and 70's things that Sao Paulo is filled with. MOST of Old Town and the southern part of Lincoln Park looks like Sao Paulo. Also, there are a lot of REALLY bad 1980's and 90's shit throughout downtown.

http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/400EastRandolph-003.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/GoldCoast/1000LakeShorePlaza-001.jpg


There needs to be an effort to create more timeless designs. We also need to start rebuilding all the amazing architecture that this city has lost, a lot of which to monstrosities.
That's my opinion of bad architecture.



i think people from Chicago really need to start leaving Chicago and traveling more. isn't O'Hare one of the larger airports in the US? you guys can't catch a flight to a city with the some shitty architecture? like really...of all those buildings, there are 2 that i wouldn't want in my city, and they (even the ugly ones) would be gems here.

Attrill
Jan 5, 2007, 11:48 PM
http://www.b12partners.net/mt/images/Sun_Times-1-tm.jpg

The new Chicago Sun-Times building. It occupies a prominent site next to the Merchandise Mart and is hideously ugly. It used to not even have any windows, but they added them in when Trump started demoing the old Sun-Times building for Trump Tower. A fake building for a fake newspaper!

This building is especially bad due to it's prominence along the river. It used to be the Apparel Mart and is part of the Merchandise Mart (they share a zip code and are managed as one building). It's been converted to offices but it was clearly NOT built to be offices. It's like a department store converted to offices - i.e. not enough elevators and there's an escalator that goes all the way to the top floor.

My most hated building is this:

http://www.cleavelin.net/archives001/mychicago/rainforestcafe.jpg

Even if you tear all the crap off it you're left with a concrete block box.

In a poll in the 90's the Harold Washington Library was picked as Chicagoans least favorite building

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/illinois/chicago/library/141newlibrary.jpg

pdxstreetcar
Jan 6, 2007, 12:55 AM
^
Didn't Chicagoans select that design in a public poll in the late 80s?

Attrill
Jan 6, 2007, 1:36 AM
^
Didn't Chicagoans select that design in a public poll in the late 80s?

Yeah - I think that played a part in it being selected the least popular. It won with less than 50% and people who voted for other buildings were still invested in their losing choices. The State of Illinois Center was a close second for least liked, and 333 W. Wacker was the most popular.

SapphireBlueEyes
Jan 6, 2007, 1:42 AM
The first, fifth and eighth buildings aren't bad at all. I like them. The 9th building, or 9 and 10, 'MIES' buildings are the most hideous of them all.

-Sapphire Blue Eyes-

:notacrook:

I'm glad I found this thread. In Chicago, amongst so much great architecture, there is an AWFUL amount of monstronsities. All along the lake, northside and southside, there are SO MANY of those ugly 1960's and 70's things that Sao Paulo is filled with. MOST of Old Town and the southern part of Lincoln Park looks like Sao Paulo. Also, there are a lot of REALLY bad 1980's and 90's shit throughout downtown.

http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/123NorthWacker-004.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/400EastRandolph-003.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/SouthLoop/1130SouthMichigan-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/GoldCoast/1000LakeShorePlaza-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/CityPlace-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/311SouthWacker-006.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/55WestWacker-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/GoldCoast/900NorthMichigan-006.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/McClurgCourtCenterA-002.jpg

There needs to be an effort to create more timeless designs. We also need to start rebuilding all the amazing architecture that this city has lost, a lot of which to monstrosities.
That's my opinion of bad architecture.

Visiteur
Jan 6, 2007, 3:01 AM
AdrianXSands, if that was the worst Chicago had to offer, then it's better off than just about any other major city in the world.:cheers:

svs
Jan 6, 2007, 5:24 AM
Well, my nominee for worst recent building in Los Angeles would have to be the Hollywood and Highland complex. Faux D. W. Griffith architecture which was faux Assyrian to begin with. Every building needs to be covered with giant Elephants and Elamite angels with beaks.
http://www.top-city-photos.com/images/hollywood-highland2.JPG

The amazing thing is this actually has turned into a tourist attraction. Well we live in the land of kitsch. What can I say?

Buckeye Native 001
Jan 6, 2007, 5:55 AM
^I think my sig sums up the SoCal mentality pretty well, svs ;)

Tom Servo
Jan 6, 2007, 8:40 AM
In a poll in the 90's the Harold Washington Library was picked as Chicagoans least favorite building

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/illinois/chicago/library/141newlibrary.jpg
Wow. What's funny is I usually hate 80's and 90's architecture, but I REALLY like the library. I didn't know so many people didn't like it. The roof is super rad, and the building is just simple red brick. I think it's great. :shrug:

LMich
Jan 6, 2007, 11:03 AM
There are definitely worst buildings in Chicago, IMO, but I think where this one went wrong is that this is an example of trying to hard. It looks like they tried to replicate, too exactly, a bunch of historic motiffs with modern materials, and tried to mash them altogether creating a really disjointed construction. It looks like some Chinese rip-off of historic American architecture, or something that would belong in a Disneyland.

vanman
Jan 6, 2007, 2:34 PM
that library looks evil somehow, it looks like the headquarters of some sort of dystopian government

the urban politician
Jan 6, 2007, 4:10 PM
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/illinois/chicago/library/141newlibrary.jpg

^ I'm sorry, but the HW Library does NOT belong on this thread.

I know, it was heavily criticized by the Blair Kamins of this world back in the 90's, as everybody was in a panic that CHicago had lost its architectural nerve for cutting edge design.

But those fears are clearing away, and over time I think this building will get its due appreciation. It's absolutely breathtaking and pretty unique in its own right.

m0nkyman
Jan 6, 2007, 7:19 PM
View Towers singlehandedly stopped any high rise building in Victoria for three decades...
Bear in mind that it was painted for the first time ever about three years ago. Previously this was exposed concrete....
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00011_1-2-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00011_1-2.JPG)
It's delightful streetscape as it faces Quadra:
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00028-1-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00028-1.JPG)
It's unrivalled landscaping:
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00023-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00023.JPG)
The expansive guest parking adjacent to it's picturesque entrance.
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00024-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00024.JPG)
I love the new ramp...
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00026-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00026.JPG)
Because the old ramp didn't quite go down to grade, which made it ideal for wheelchairs. This is my favourite feature.
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00029-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00029.JPG)
Because if you paint it all green, the big ugly HVAC equipment just disappears.
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00023-1-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00023-1.JPG)
This open masonry work really brings the street to life, and makes the parking lot ever so airy.
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00024-1-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00024-1.JPG)
The streetscaping apparent in this photograph just takes my breath away.
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00025-1-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00025-1.JPG)

:wink:

kenratboy
Jan 6, 2007, 7:32 PM
Wow, now thats a building you can be proud of!!!

I love that truck on the second to last picture, must belong to the architect!

vid
Jan 6, 2007, 8:03 PM
Are you sure you weren't in Thunder Bay when you took those pictures, m0nkey? We have, like, 90 of those. :)

texcolo
Jan 6, 2007, 10:15 PM
Built by H Ross Perot about ten years before he ran for president...

http://www.geocities.com/mschwa01/images/500_HDQT.JPG

The skybridge is sarcastically known as the 'God Pod'...

http://theboss206.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/eds.jpg

It's dated, but frankly beastie from the day it was finished...

http://www.wbdg.org/images/env_atria_11.jpg

slapshot™
Jan 7, 2007, 6:45 AM
The ugly Soviet/bunker styled bldg in Winnipeg has a brother in Edmonton called the down town police station but I was unable to find a pic of it. They look very similar.

Instead, here's a looker....

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/0oministryt.jpg

The Ministry of Transportation, in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Actually, I kinda like it.

Attrill
Jan 7, 2007, 6:55 AM
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/illinois/chicago/library/141newlibrary.jpg

^ I'm sorry, but the HW Library does NOT belong on this thread.

I know, it was heavily criticized by the Blair Kamins of this world back in the 90's, as everybody was in a panic that CHicago had lost its architectural nerve for cutting edge design.

But those fears are clearing away, and over time I think this building will get its due appreciation. It's absolutely breathtaking and pretty unique in its own right.

I put it in because of the criticism it received in the early 90's, I don't think it is the worst bulding in Chicago at all (I'd actually include it in my top 20) but since it did receive recognition as the "worst building" years ago I posted it.

tyler82
Jan 7, 2007, 7:07 AM
I like this building a lot. Looks like something you'd see in the Sunset district. I could live in something like this, look at that personality!

Oh good grief...and that one takes the cake it seems...

:yuck: :eek: :brickwall:

Notice it is abandoned too...and for good reason

ed21x
Jan 7, 2007, 8:22 AM
Taipei has far far worse to offer, but not in an area of so much potential:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/1/187949835_7139670ca4.jpg

Distill3d
Jan 8, 2007, 3:08 AM
http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00024-1-tm.jpg (http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/m0nkymans_photo_blog/images/DSC00024-1.JPG)



Wow, now thats a building you can be proud of!!!

I love that truck on the second to last picture, must belong to the architect!

sorry man, i just couldn't afford the whole paint job. i kept changing my mind. i didn't realise it would end up in pictures. normally it just scares childern. but what can ya do. i mean the wife left me and i can't afford anything better. :shrug:

olga
Jan 8, 2007, 3:39 PM
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/0oministryt.jpg

The Ministry of Transportation, in Tbilisi, Georgia.



Wow, haven't seen that one before. It's truly awesome - or maybe awful, can't decide...

Dolemite
Jan 8, 2007, 4:14 PM
Why all of the hate for 311 S Wacker?

I think the building is decent, especially at night.

Steely Dan
Jan 8, 2007, 6:11 PM
There are definitely worst buildings in Chicago, IMO, but I think where this one went wrong is that this is an example of trying to hard. It looks like they tried to replicate, too exactly, a bunch of historic motiffs with modern materials, and tried to mash them altogether creating a really disjointed construction. It looks like some Chinese rip-off of historic American architecture, or something that would belong in a Disneyland.

i must respectfully disagree. many of you know that i have no great love of '80s po-mo, so what i'm about to say may shock you, but the harold washington library in chicago is actually one of chicago's finest examples of the po-mo movement. the building is over-scaled (intentional), but it is not "disneyfied" or a chinese rip-off. it is the real deal, with the real deal materials and very finely crafted ornament. it is by no means a cheap imitation.

i think the reason it received so much inital scorn from chicagoans is because the building was such a radical departure from the regular modern civic structures we had become accustomed to over the decades, but as this building has now settled into its place in the cityscape and in the city's legacy, it seems to just be getting better with age, and it is also slowly becoming more accepted by your average joe chicagoan.

summation: the HWL in chicago does not belong anywhere near an "ugliest buildings in chicago" list. it is one of chciago's stand-out stars of the po-mo movement.

svs
Jan 8, 2007, 6:35 PM
i must respectfully disagree. many of you know that i have no great love of '80s po-mo, so what i'm about to say may shock you, but the harold washington library in chicago is actually one of chicago's finest examples of the po-mo movement. the building is over-scaled (intentional), but it is not "disneyfied" or a chinese rip-off. it is the real deal, with the real deal materials and very finely crafted ornament. it is by no means a cheap imitation.

i think the reason it received so much inital scorn from chicagoans is because the building was such a radical departure from the regular modern civic structures we had become accustomed to over the decades, but as this building has now settled into its place in the cityscape and in the city's legacy, it seems to just be getting better with age, and it is also slowly becoming more accepted by your average joe chicagoan.

summation: the HWL in chicago does not belong anywhere near an "ugliest buildings in chicago" list. it is one of chicago's stand-out stars of the po-mo movement.

I can't believe it, but for once I agree with you.

DecoJim
Jan 8, 2007, 8:25 PM
The Chicago Library would only belong under this topic if the design had botched the use of historical style. I like the fact that you can tell right away that it is a modern building by looking at the roof treatment. What I can't stand are modern buildings that try to replicate historical styles but fail because of cheap materials or bad proportions.

I have seen pictures of the Library without the oversize decorations at the top so it appears that they may have been added sometime after the building's completion.

By the way, those owls are rather sinister:
http://www.maj.com/gallery/DecoJim/Chicago/library11.jpg

Distill3d
Jan 8, 2007, 10:13 PM
Wow, haven't seen that one before. It's truly awesome - or maybe awful, can't decide...

if it weren't so brutalist, and the area around it were developed, it wouldn't be so bad.

mdiederi
Jan 8, 2007, 11:41 PM
I don't care for this brand new Hilton building. There will be a total of four of these when they are done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/mdiederi/buildings/HGV1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/mdiederi/buildings/hiltongrandvacationscluha4.jpg
photo by Don Pacho

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/mdiederi/buildings/38th_floor_view_1024.jpg
photo by marlab55

murman
Jan 9, 2007, 12:11 AM
http://members.shaw.ca/widedetox/cntower2.jpg

I've had several people tell me that this (the CN tower) in Edmonton is on of the ugliest buildings in the city. I personally never took the time to look at it (and still have not) but lets put it up for nomination anyway.


Sorry, but the casino in the forefront of this shot is 10000000000 times uglier.

JonVegas
Jan 9, 2007, 12:11 AM
Las Vegas has quite a few monstrosities, but I wouldn't count the Hilton among them. IMHO I like it a lot.
Do you have any specifics on what you dislike about it?

JonVegas
Jan 9, 2007, 12:44 AM
http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2004/05/263526.jpg

Here's my Vegas pick.
NYNY is bad on so many levels.
The number one reason: Someone already built the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings and did a much better job.
If you watch the DVD extras of Oceans Eleven there is an omitted scene where they implode it. I pray that happens someday.

GeorgeLV
Jan 9, 2007, 12:48 AM
^^Agree. The Hilton timeshare are perfectly decent if bland.

The Bridger Building is by far the most shameful monstrosity ever built in Vegas. Thankfully, they're going to demolish it.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/7928/bridgerzt4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Photo by Ralph Fountain/Las Vegas Review-Journal.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Aug-12-Sat-2006/news/9020657.html

mdiederi
Jan 9, 2007, 12:51 AM
Yeah, agreed, NYNY and all the other Disneyesque follies are an embarrassment, but they amuse the tourists and bring in money, so what can you do?

Sorry, but the casino in the forefront of this shot is 10000000000 times uglier.
That's not big enough to be a monstrosity and the Hilton in my post doesn't even have a casino.

Las Vegas has quite a few monstrosities, but I wouldn't count the Hilton among them. IMHO I like it a lot.
Do you have any specifics on what you dislike about it?
The big blank shafts at both ends, the boring ocher color, the phony stucco texture of the building materials, the mission style ornamentation at the top is completely inappropriate for a highrise, the small windows, the clashing vertical and diagonal stripes framing the small windows, the funky light fixtures below the garish tall narrow windows at the top, the square boxy overall shape, etc., etc., ... maybe the inside is nice. Just my opinion of course, but I'm not the first person to say it's ugly. And yeah, sure, there are certainly uglier older buildings in town, like George's choice for example, wow. Earlier I posted the Aladdin as a monstrosity. But what gets me is that this is brand new and that's the best they could do? Vegas is going modern and upscale and this thing is totally counter productive. Maybe it will grow on me, but I see that ugly shaft everyday and it's just depressing. The Palazzo will have blank ends on it's wings too, which I think is a bad idea.

What do you like about it?

Independence
Jan 9, 2007, 3:30 PM
The ugly Soviet/bunker styled bldg in Winnipeg has a brother in Edmonton called the down town police station but I was unable to find a pic of it. They look very similar.

Instead, here's a looker....

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/0oministryt.jpg

The Ministry of Transportation, in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Actually, I kinda like it.

What the hell?!???!!??!????!? :eek: :whatthefuck:

Good taste has left the building, ladies and gentlemen!

some_stupid_nut
Jan 9, 2007, 8:43 PM
Massey Building, tallest in the small city I'm in. Ugliest too.

http://www.beyonddc.com/images/photos/va/fairfax/oldtown/massey02.jpg

They are building this that will block out the lower views of the expansion.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/images/construction/courtrender.jpg

JonVegas
Jan 9, 2007, 10:26 PM
Bridger Building: 100% agree! The building is in shambles now but I imagine it wasn't going to win any beauty pageants when the paint was still fresh either.

Hilton: I like the light fixtures at the top. I especially like the way it looks at night. I also like the color. It reminds me of some LA faux art-deco.

I see what you are saying about the horizontal lines though.

CGII
Jan 9, 2007, 10:53 PM
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/0oministryt.jpg


How ever ugly it is, it gets points for just being straight out kick ass awesome.

alps
Jan 9, 2007, 11:50 PM
if it weren't so brutalist, and the area around it were developed, it wouldn't be so bad.

Those are the two qualities that make it great :D.

Massey Tower doesn't look too bad, though I don't like the base of it.


How ever ugly it is, it gets points for just being straight out kick ass awesome.

Hear hear!

Distill3d
Jan 10, 2007, 11:04 PM
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/0oministryt.jpg


How ever ugly it is, it gets points for just being straight out kick ass awesome.


its like my sister, its so damn fugly its beautiful :tup:

olga
Jan 11, 2007, 8:34 AM
if it weren't so brutalist, and the area around it were developed, it wouldn't be so bad.

I don't mind the brutalism, that's what makes it cool. But you are right about the surroundings. Imagine this building clean and fixed, surrounded by a fabulous park. It would be fantastic.

vid
Jan 11, 2007, 4:57 PM
And paint it white, red, blue, and yellow, with black outlines! :)

Attrill
Jan 11, 2007, 5:36 PM
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/0oministryt.jpg


I think they should go for a full out brutalist/post apocolyptic look. Surround it with burning cars, smoking craters, and packs of monkey/wolf hybrids.

LostInTheZone
Jan 11, 2007, 5:38 PM
I don't mind the brutalism, that's what makes it cool. But you are right about the surroundings. Imagine this building clean and fixed, surrounded by a fabulous park. It would be fantastic.

I agree. That hillside is an opportunity for some great lanscaping, and if you threw in some hanging gardens on those flat roofs, it would look pretty awesome.

Awkab
Jan 11, 2007, 8:36 PM
I found some more images of the Ministry of Transportation building in Tbilisi, Georgia on google images. The landscape in these photos looks better...it looks as if vines are covering the bottom left part of the building. I wonder if the photo shown two posts back is a more recent or older shot, or whether it just looks so dreary because it was taken in winter?

http://www.pbase.com/awkab/image/72937484.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/awkab/image/72937491.jpg

olga
Jan 11, 2007, 9:58 PM
http://www.pbase.com/awkab/image/72937484.jpg


:banana: :banana: :banana: WOW, after seeing this pic, I totally LOVE this building! Gosh, I have to go to Tbilisi some day.

vid
Jan 11, 2007, 10:10 PM
Those two are MUCH better. It is now a very respectable example of socialist era brutalism. :) I still think it would look nice with a paint job, though.

olga
Jan 12, 2007, 8:05 AM
^ No no. Clean it, but don't paint it. I hate when they paint brutalist concrete buildings, it's so wrong. The whole thing about brutalism is the "béton brut", the raw concrete.

ChiPsy
Jan 12, 2007, 2:18 PM
i must respectfully disagree. many of you know that i have no great love of '80s po-mo, so what i'm about to say may shock you, but the harold washington library in chicago is actually one of chicago's finest examples of the po-mo movement. the building is over-scaled (intentional), but it is not "disneyfied" or a chinese rip-off. it is the real deal, with the real deal materials and very finely crafted ornament. it is by no means a cheap imitation.

i think the reason it received so much inital scorn from chicagoans is because the building was such a radical departure from the regular modern civic structures we had become accustomed to over the decades, but as this building has now settled into its place in the cityscape and in the city's legacy, it seems to just be getting better with age, and it is also slowly becoming more accepted by your average joe chicagoan.

summation: the HWL in chicago does not belong anywhere near an "ugliest buildings in chicago" list. it is one of chciago's stand-out stars of the po-mo movement.

I agree completely. And have you seen the models for the other finalists in the competition? (I think they're in the Library, although I can't remember where.) Although I championed some of them at the time, they haven't aged well. We got a PoMo prize with the HWL.

Distill3d
Jan 12, 2007, 3:53 PM
I found some more images of the Ministry of Transportation building in Tbilisi, Georgia on google images. The landscape in these photos looks better...it looks as if vines are covering the bottom left part of the building. I wonder if the photo shown two posts back is a more recent or older shot, or whether it just looks so dreary because it was taken in winter?

http://www.pbase.com/awkab/image/72937484.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/awkab/image/72937491.jpg

see, now this i would want in my city. but, what the hell happened to all the trees in the other photo?

the building has the potential to be cool, the area just needs some redevlopment. certainly this is a classic example of what happens when you have a nice building out of place. it turns into a shameful monstrosity like this.

muppet
Jan 13, 2007, 4:09 PM
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/0oministryt.jpg

fuckin brilliant. This is brutalism at its best.

art brutale was intended to be 'honest' architecture - not just functional but exposing its design, structure and notably, materials in its rawest forms. This of course let in a million ugly blank boxes with weather exposed concrete across the world - imo it was one big excuse to build CHEAP, globalisation exposed.

But this Tbilisi build is something else - its obviously added a big flight of fancy to the form but done it in a right-angle severe kind of way in keeping with the 'honest' tradition, or at least pretending to - its still a treehouse deam with several lookouts imo.


http://www.pbase.com/awkab/image/72937484.jpg
I think its setting is superb and compliments it well. On a hill and surrounded by trees ensures its views aswell as a view of it, especially the contrast between whats all nature and whats all human construct in severe relief. I love how the green is climbing up its walls in the ivy-like plants: probably inintentional, but it looks like the earth is slowly claiming it back.
Imagine what it would look like when the ivy has taken it all over and looming out at you, it would be the Swamp Thing.
I think lump this building into a commie block district and it would be a mere 'apostrophe', another grey block but with a different stacking system, thats all.

rockyi
Jan 13, 2007, 4:21 PM
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/0oministryt.jpg

This is brutalism at its best.


This is an oxymoron if I ever heard one. (As you may already tell, I hate brutalism.)

muppet
Jan 13, 2007, 5:10 PM
plurality my liege, plurality.

Derrick_TheRiskTaker
Jan 13, 2007, 7:02 PM
I must say City Hall. This is where the most dirt and crime is committed. :D http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:d3lyJ7rZZK7YKM:http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/citylaw/images/citylaw_img6554.jpg

Derrick_TheRiskTaker
Jan 13, 2007, 7:03 PM
I must say City Hall. This is where the most dirt and crime is committed. :D http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:d3lyJ7rZZK7YKM:http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/citylaw/images/citylaw_img6554.jpg

Upward
Jan 14, 2007, 8:48 AM
I am continuing to love this thread! Maybe I'm sick, but I actually like many of the buildings shown here. :D There are some obvious stinkers, but in my opinion they're the relatively new buildings. Most 60s and 70s brutalism is at least interesting, even if it looks dilapidated now. I still think the worst thing in this thread is that thin, nearly-windowless piece of crap in Houston.


Oh, and about Tour de Lille... I'm actually living near Lille for the next two months, so I will try to get a picture that shows it a little better. It's not as bad as it looks in that picture. As someone mentioned, it is built over the top of a train station.

Wheelingman04
Jan 16, 2007, 12:36 AM
Welcome to the forum Derrick.:)

DizzyEdge
Jan 17, 2007, 6:35 AM
Calgary:

Harry Hays Federal Building
McKimmie Library at the University of Calgary
Calgary Board of Education building
Scotia Centre

I believe this is Harry Hays
http://www.viewcalgary.com/downtown/N4-2SE.jpg

I actually like the CBE building, it's ugly, but interesting.

http://www.calgaryheritage.org/images/ugly1.jpg

and it's ugly brother across the street

http://www.calgaryheritage.org/images/ugly2.jpg

DizzyEdge
Jan 17, 2007, 6:37 AM
Don't forget Bromley Square - the building that looks like a big lunch box in the picture (I couldn't find a better picture). A disgraceful eyesore on the Calgary skyline.

http://pictures.mls.ca/mls/reb9/highres/5/c32358651.jpg

I think it looks like one of those old Fisher Price tape recorders.

Distill3d
Jan 17, 2007, 5:55 PM
Designed by Kevin Roche & John Dinkeloo
Opened 1972, Closed 2002

Implosion Saturday (1/20/07) 7:30 am

http://www.geofffox.com/albums/downtown-new-haven-connecticut/new_haven_coliseum.sized.jpg
http://www.geofffox.com/gallery/downtown-new-haven-connecticut/new_haven_coliseum

http://www.krjda.com/images/NHColiseum_1.jpg
www.krjda.com

http://www.krjda.com/images/NHColiseum_2.jpg
www.krjda.com

More Info:
Wikipedia: New Haven Coliseum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Haven_Coliseum)
AP: New Haven coliseum will be imploded Saturday (http://www.norwalkadvocate.com/news/local/state/hc-16141902.apds.m0942.bc-ct--impljan16,0,7960850.story?track=rss)


this is from another post, but it deserves to be here...

alps
Jan 19, 2007, 1:40 AM
^^^ I don't mind that arena, at least it's far from boring.

muppet
Jan 19, 2007, 1:32 PM
Reclad the top and ramping with black glass, tile the base with black tiles (the stupidly expensive type) and it would look like a glittering, pretentious gallery to modern art.

http://www.geofffox.com/albums/downtown-new-haven-connecticut/new_haven_coliseum.sized.jpg

Independence
Jan 19, 2007, 4:18 PM
:previous:
It's design is just functional - design follows purpose in this case.

Read it's about to be imploded soon.;)

Stu
Jan 19, 2007, 4:55 PM
Montreal - too many too count.

While I think the city is ok (highly overrated on this forum though), it is an architectural clusterfuck of some good old stuff, some mostly mediocre modern, ugly brutalist urban fortress garbage and uninspiring new stuff.

Lost Island
Jan 20, 2007, 6:02 AM
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center at the Queens/Nassau Co. line. (NYC)

With most of these buildings, I've really gotta say.. It's all about the windows !!

http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/facilities/crpc/crpc.jpg

JManc
Jan 20, 2007, 6:30 AM
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/0oministryt.jpg



http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news_info/drugs/images/lsd.jpg

+

http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1776634/2/istockphoto_1776634_architectural_drawings_41.jpg


=

:sly:

the urban politician
Jan 20, 2007, 7:41 AM
http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/facilities/crpc/crpc.jpg

^ In about 20-30 years, when this place is eventually abandoned, it will be a great site to shoot really freaky movies in.

M.K.
Jan 20, 2007, 12:10 PM
In Munich: The Train Station.
http://images.cityreview.org/user/6343/1115366278_show.jpg

In Sao Paulo: Too many buildings should be destroyed, mainly in center area.
Some examples: Baronesa de Arary Av. Paulista
Edifício Sao Vito and others in same area http://thomaslockehobbs.com/2005/banespa7.jpg. Also Mirante do Vale in center.
It is impossible to describe here, because more than 100 very old buildings should be reviewed in the city.

Distill3d
Jan 20, 2007, 9:27 PM
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center at the Queens/Nassau Co. line. (NYC)

With most of these buildings, I've really gotta say.. It's all about the windows !!

http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/facilities/crpc/crpc.jpg

i'll take it!!!

thats a nice lookin building. mind you, i think i'd clear out the psychiatric part and use it more for like my demented mansion on the hill. :tup:

Lost Island
Jan 20, 2007, 9:44 PM
Nassau University Medical Center...East Meadow, NY (Long Island)...19 stories

Design itself isn't so terrible, but qualifies as a shameful monstrosity if you'll notice the large patched sections of the building which simply started crashing to the ground after it was completed in 1974.

http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2005-10/19820223.jpg

@ Urban Politician

Here's your already abandoned asylum (since 1996). About 50 miles east of NYC on a hill near the Long Island Sound. Kings Park Psychiatric Center. This is the 11-story tower amongst a complex of dilapidated buildings dating back to the late 19th century. It has an extensive and dangerous labyrinth of tunnels connecting the 700 acre complex. Totally on the register of haunted places. Some of the tunnels have sub-rooms in which you can find chairs with harnesses, and large rocks on the floor that were used to club criminally insane inmates. It's well known locally for its gruesome history. With its foreboding design, it fits on our SSP register of shamefull monstrosities...albeit a bit out of the urban zone.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid123/p001d55b18a0af192058bb8e7c72e0742/f81fa4b8.jpg

STERNyc
Jan 20, 2007, 10:00 PM
Nassau University Medical Center...East Meadow, NY (Long Island)...19 stories

Design itself isn't so terrible, but qualifies as a shameful monstrosity if you'll notice the large patched sections of the building which simply started crashing to the ground after it was completed in 1974.

http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2005-10/19820223.jpg

@ Urban Politician

Here's your already abandoned asylum (since 1996). About 50 miles east of NYC on a hill near the Long Island Sound. Kings Park Psychiatric Center. This is the 11-story tower amongst a complex of dilapidated buildings dating back to the late 19th century. It has an extensive and dangerous labyrinth of tunnels connecting the 700 acre complex. Totally on the register of haunted places. Some of the tunnels have sub-rooms in which you can find chairs with harnesses, and large rocks on the floor that were used to club criminally insane inmates. It's well known locally for its gruesome history. With its foreboding design, it fits on our SSP register of shamefull monstrosities...albeit a bit out of the urban zone.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid123/p001d55b18a0af192058bb8e7c72e0742/f81fa4b8.jpg

I consider myself an urban archaeologist and this is my favorite abandoned building. I've explored the entire complex many times over and each time I get totally freaked out. The last time I went I explored some building with massive blood stains on the floor, some of the puddles of blood were still fresh as they were sticking to the bottom of my shoes. There's no question that when Kings Park closed and many of its former residents were sent out into the world, that atleast some stuck around.

Lost Island
Jan 20, 2007, 10:49 PM
http://thomaslockehobbs.com/2005/banespa7.jpg.

The abandoned Ryugyong in North Korea looks better than that.

-GR2NY-
Jan 20, 2007, 10:58 PM
I went thru all 16 pages at once just now. I shouted random obseneties like "what.... the.... fuck" or "what the hell!!!!", and all possible variations of these.

AuxTown
Jan 20, 2007, 11:29 PM
I check this page at least once every week. Always good for a laugh. I have to say that the worst building in Ottawa (by far) is City Centre.....which I can proudly say is nowhere near the CBD or centretown area but is actually about 3 km to the west.

http://www.jamieloubier.8m.com/PictureStorage/CityCentre.jpg

Lost Island
Jan 20, 2007, 11:33 PM
Can't believe no one posted THIS beast...

Torre Velasca-Milan
http://www.todaviapordeterminar.com/galeria/data/media/1/MIlano_Torre_Velasca.jpg
http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/gsteel/milan-genova/DSCN1973.jpg

Ex-Ithacan
Jan 20, 2007, 11:36 PM
^ Yikes, that's one fugly rascal.

rockyi
Jan 20, 2007, 11:49 PM
^^Good God, is that nasty!