The Ugly Canada Thread

[SignalHillHiker]

On my travels, the worst I've seen are all the parking lots/beige buildings in this chunk of downtown Winnipeg (the whole city doesn't look like this, by the way. The Exchange is lovely). Also a major pet peeve: tall buildings with windows on only two sides. Winnipeg was blocked with them. It was like people were living in smokestacks.



And, the ugliest in-use building at home (I'm not going to include abandoned buildings like the old Newfoundland Telephone Building or the CBC building. Also, those are being turned into apartments/condos or whatever soon anyway...)

So, the building I think is the ugliest in St. John's is City Hall. It's so ugly I had to take this screencap from Google Street View because I've never even photographed it.



For such a beautiful, colourful city to have this monstrosity for a City Hall? It's a tragedy.

And I pity the poor person who has to put out those flowers... I just want to hold him and say, "My love, don't bother... you'd have to bury the whole ****ing building for it to make a bit of difference..."

EDIT: I should add, a nice coat of paint would make it tolerable to me. Of it the colour palette was changed to match that of The Rooms... but it'd still look like a WWII bunker that should be falling apart out at Fort Amherst rather than a City Hall in the heart of downtown.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

I like the second one better...

Second that, although both are shitty for different reasons.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Second that, although both are shitty for different reasons.

LOL! Perhaps the upside down portapotty could be used as a future ratings system for the shittiness of buildings?

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

And, the ugliest in-use building at home (I'm not going to include abandoned buildings like the old Newfoundland Telephone Building or the CBC building. Also, those are being turned into apartments/condos or whatever soon anyway...)

So, the building I think is the ugliest in St. John's is City Hall. It's so ugly I had to take this screencap from Google Street View because I've never even photographed it.



For such a beautiful, colourful city to have this monstrosity for a City Hall? It's a tragedy.

And I pity the poor person who has to put out those flowers... I just want to hold him and say, "My love, don't bother... you'd have to bury the whole ****ing building for it to make a bit of difference..."

EDIT: I should add, a nice coat of paint would make it tolerable to me. Of it the colour palette was changed to match that of The Rooms... but it'd still look like a WWII bunker that should be falling apart out at Fort Amherst rather than a City Hall in the heart of downtown.

Dear Lord that is hideous!!! Reminds of Hitler's Wolf Den.

[eemy]

Huh. I actually kind of like it short of that awful pedestrian overpass.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

Huh. I actually kind of like it short of that awful pedestrian overpass.

Sadly the overpass is the only thing that breaks the monotony of the concrete bunker walls for me.

[Architype]

^ St. John's City hall actually won a design award when it was built in 1970 (arch. John B Parkin), but it's easy to see why some people don't like it, and perhaps wouldn't like any Brutalist architecture. It is now dirty, due for a cleaning this year I believe, and the pedestrian overpass really did ruin it's look; originally an overpass was planned which would have matched the building.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Architype

^ St. John's City hall actually won a design award when it was built in 1970 (arch. John B Parkin), but it's easy to see why some people don't like it, and perhaps wouldn't like any Brutalist architecture. It is now dirty, due for a cleaning this year I believe, and the pedestrian overpass really did ruin it's look; originally an overpass was planned which would have matched the building.

I think city leaders obviously didn't get it. The fact they allowed that pedway and the fact they put out all those countless flower baskets and pots shows they really don't know what they're dealing with.

Building this in St. John's was like giving an iPad to my grandmother. She'd lay it on the coffee table, put a doily on it, and a basket of candy on top of that. And that's basically what St. John's has done with this building.

[SignalHillHiker]

A few more of what I personally consider to be eyesores in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

This one was one of my biggest pet peeves and, thankfully, it's in the process of being corrected. The Confederation Building is our provincial legislature. Because we didn't join Canada until 1949, ours was built in the 1950s and is absolutely hideous compared to, literally, every other province in Canada.

The overall design is tolerable to me. However, the treatments - the clear windows and green panels - are hideous. It's basically a glorified high school. I don't have a complex about the things other cities have that are better than St. John's, but this one truly did bother and embarrass me.

Luckily, as you can see, they're replacing the clear glass with blue glass and the green panels with blue ones. It'll still be the ugliest provincial legislature in Canada, but at least it will be tolerable.



And next is the Fortis Building. It's the heart of the old town core, which irritates me tremendously, but it's simply an outdated, unattractive building. It's very utilitarian. It's not something you'd expect from a city that prides itself on its beauty.

It's the predominantly white tower to the far left:



And, what irritates me MOST about this building is that it only has windows on three sides. The west-facing side of the building is just a blank, white concrete wall. That, I think, should be illegal. I cannot accurately express in words how ugly, cruel, and pointless I find tall buildings without windows on one or more sides. I get disproportionately angry about it.

I'm actually getting mad now, just typing this, hahaha... Jeez...

[SignalHillHiker]

And one more, this time for suburban St. John's.

The town of Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove is a very popular place for the wealthiest St. John's families to build their sprawling, seaside homes. Many of them are genuinely beautiful and reflect either traditional English or Newfoundland architecture.

But others are monstrosities in the worst nouveau riche sense OR, which has somehow proven even worse, the "wealthy Europeans building elaborate summer homes in Newfoundland" sense.

But, of all of them, this one takes the cake. The owners literally built a castle. And a tacky, bulky, hideous one at that. Trump would be proud.

By Flickr user ZACHWHEELER:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zacharywheeler/6131534242/sizes/l/in/photostream/

And the rest of these are from JTC Construction:

[O-tacular]

I don't generally denigrate public art, but I've always found this sculpture in Calgary's Bow Valley Square an eyesore. Mind you it is better than much of the Western cowboy / horses / indian bronzes around town. But still. Judge for yourself.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

A few more of what I personally consider to be eyesores in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

This one was one of my biggest pet peeves and, thankfully, it's in the process of being corrected. The Confederation Building is our provincial legislature. Because we didn't join Canada until 1949, ours was built in the 1950s and is absolutely hideous compared to, literally, every other province in Canada.

The overall design is tolerable to me. However, the treatments - the clear windows and green panels - are hideous. It's basically a glorified high school. I don't have a complex about the things other cities have that are better than St. John's, but this one truly did bother and embarrass me.

Luckily, as you can see, they're replacing the clear glass with blue glass and the green panels with blue ones. It'll still be the ugliest provincial legislature in Canada, but at least it will be tolerable.

Sadly I prefer the old window / green spandrel. The blue is worse to me.

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Looks like a naked male gymnast with an erection after landing a flip on the floor exercises.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by The_Architect

Looks like a naked male gymnast with an erection after landing a flip on the floor exercises.

Haha! Mixed with a teletubby earthworm doing jumping jacks.

[SignalHillHiker]

^ I see a dog's chew toy. Or something you'd get out of a vending machine in Japan.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Haha! Mixed with a teletubby earthworm doing jumping jacks.

Nope, definitely Makka Pakka:

the horror of children's shows

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I don't generally denigrate public art, but I've always found this sculpture in Calgary's Bow Valley Square an eyesore. Mind you it is better than much of the Western cowboy / horses / indian bronzes around town. But still. Judge for yourself.

These are worse than the (in)famous metal trees of London (Ontario). There are about 50 of these scattered about downtown, often in hideous colors.

wikimedia commons

Who decides on these things? Let's waste taxpayer money on some extraordinarily fugly metal tubes crudely fashioned to represent First-nations people on horseback?

[bulliver]

Jesus, metal trees? Would probably cost less to plant real trees!

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

These are worse than the (in)famous metal trees of London (Ontario). There are about 50 of these scattered about downtown, often in hideous colors.

wikimedia commons

Who decides on these things? Let's waste taxpayer money on some extraordinarily fugly metal tubes crudely fashioned to represent First-nations people on horseback?

haha, Winnipeg has a bunch of metal trees as well on west Portage Ave.

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I don't generally denigrate public art, but I've always found this sculpture in Calgary's Bow Valley Square an eyesore. Mind you it is better than much of the Western cowboy / horses / indian bronzes around town. But still. Judge for yourself.

I like these!!