The Ugly Canada Thread

[SignalHillHiker]

Of course they do.

Old...

Newfoundland - Court House by Geoff Whiteway, on Flickr

Basilica-Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, St. John's (Avalon) by www.experiencenl.com, on Flickr

(One for good and one for lapsed Catholics)

And hideous new...

Churchill Square clock by haven't the slightest, on Flickr

Lines by Karen Chappell, on Flickr

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

But who is a worthy opponent for Horlagica?

Landamarkathan (Landmark Place in Hamilton)? King Radisson (Winnipeg)? Roomzilla (St. John's)?

Clockzilla vs Roomsirah?

[MolsonExport]

The old fogies can count down how much time they have left on the clock.

[MolsonExport]

For Ontario, I nominate this monstrosity as possibly the second ugliest building in Canada, after clockzilla.
What a fucking disaster:

newstalk1010

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by lio45

You guys don't have clocks on buildings that are stylistically supposed to be drawing a lot of their inspiration from the architecture of an era when (normal, tasteful) big buildings often had (and still have, in the case of all the ones still standing) clocks?

An example from my neck of the woods in Quebec (Coaticook) :
That kind of building in Ontario wouldn't have a clock on it?

Nice historic clocktower on Calgary's old City Hall:



Modern abomination clocktower on 17th ave:



At least it doesn't glow in the dark...

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

For Ontario, I nominate this monstrosity as possibly the second ugliest building in Canada, after clockzilla.
What a fucking disaster:

newstalk1010

I imagine Clockzilla ripping that hideous clocktower off Mississauga's city hall and using it as a spear to stab the Rooms monster through the heart. Time's Up!!!

[lio45]

That's Mississauga's city hall? I thought it was a penitenciary of some sort (this tower seems designed for armed guards).

[lio45]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Of course they do.

Yeah, that's what I would have guessed. Weird that jeremy doesn't seem aware of this architectural trend though... but then again, the clocks on buildings out there definitely aren't brought to attention the way they are in this thread. Among other things, they don't shoot a laser beam...

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Pickup trucks and gigantic troop movers like those Suburbans, Hummers, etc. are a completely North American (Canada/US) phenomenon. Outside of this continent (with its urbanscapes designed first and foremost for vehicles), tradespeople aside, very, very, very few people use them for everyday driving. Only here in North America would a pickup truck be a status symbol; a badge of honor or "manhood".

I take it you've not spent much time south of the Rio Grande?

[eemy]

Obviously older buildings sometimes have these clocks, when they still served a function, but it doesn't seem particularly common in the modern era. Then, of course, this monstrosity, a few blocks away from home, popped into mind:

http://wikimapia.org/5051563/Kitchener-Market-Square

I suppose it's some sort of post-modern kitsch thing.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

Obviously older buildings sometimes have these clocks, when they still served a function, but it doesn't seem particularly common in the modern era. Then, of course, this monstrosity, a few blocks away from home, popped into mind:

http://wikimapia.org/5051563/Kitchener-Market-Square

I suppose it's some sort of post-modern kitsch thing.

Just awful. Then again there is no nice new building that incorporates a clocktower. The worst that comes to mind for me is still this thing that seems like it should be considered a desecration of a holy site.

[kwoldtimer]

Really? The clock tower is the only part of Market Square that doesn't bother me.

[TownGuy]

Originally Posted by lio45

That's Mississauga's city hall? I thought it was a penitenciary of some sort (this tower seems designed for armed guards).

That reminded me of this.

Mississauga resident Don Cherry who is most notable for being on Hockey Night In Canada and a Canadian icon added fuel to the fire when he stated that the new City Hall reminded him of his home town Kingston, Ontario because it looked more like a penitentiary than a City Hall.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississauga_Civic_Centre#Architecture

The half exposed clock tower is what really does it. What were they trying to accomplish with that?

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Clockzilla vs Roomsirah?

Thought I'd just give this a bump as no one seems to have noticed that Clockzilla has been given another monster to fight.

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Then leave the truck at home for those things like one of my co-workers does and drive a car during the day. I know they have more than one vehicle too.

Why would you do that? As Lio says, it's even more wasteful than just owning the one vehicle and as long as you don't have to do a lot of tight maneuvers, a truck is actually easier to drive once you get used to the size.

[niwell]

... I kind of like Mississauga city hall. I mean, it's horrible in a lot of ways but is a pretty good expression of what it was trying to do.

Also Roomsirah got nothin' on Clockzilla. Not even a fair fight. How has nobody else commented on this yet???

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by niwell

... I kind of like Mississauga city hall. I mean, it's horrible in a lot of ways but is a pretty good expression of what it was trying to do.

Also Roomsirah got nothin' on Clockzilla. Not even a fair fight. How has nobody else commented on this yet???

If Mississauga City Hall is considered one of Canada's most important examples of PoMo, which I understand to be the case, does it matter whether or not some people think it's "ugly"?

[matthew6]

[Rico Rommheim]

Th Miss city hall works just fine: ugly monster-suburb -> ugly monster poMo city hall.

[Rico Rommheim]

Has anybody else seen those ads?

Idiot by Rommheim, on Flickr