The Ugly Canada Thread

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I actually like this.

I love that too!

EDIT: Didn't realize I'd started a new page, this is what we're talking about:

Originally Posted by mcminsen

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I'm going through a selection of photographs of every iteration of every church in the St. John's region.

It's heartbreaking. All of the big ones are just as they were, and some of those that burned down and were replaced were horizontal upgrades - you lost a gorgeous Gothic wooden one and gained a beautiful stone Byzantine one, etc.

But the VAST majority were ornate wooden buildings that were replaced with 1960s-70s-style bay retail outlet exteriors.

A typical example - the little town of Flatrock, just north of the city. This is what the school and church look like today:



And this is what was there before:



It's the same with the houses. Typical North American bungalows now dominate every part of rural Newfoundland that is not a protected or popular tourist site.

Such a sad loss of beauty. Flatrock is ugly today, there's almost nothing there worth taking a picture of except the landscape - but just 50 years ago, I could've gone there and been as fulfilled and excited as my road trips to Brigus and Bonavista and Trinity and the touristy spots. Truly is a tragedy we allowed the "new and improved" to replace what we were.

What happened? Did they bulldoze the original? I don't even see the bones of it in what is there now.

[SignalHillHiker]

It burned down. That's always the answer here. The exceptions are so few that you can just say always.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^Fire. I blogged about one of the churches in NL when I lived there.

hereIsAChurchAndHereIsn’tTheSteeple All of the CBC news story links are broken now. I'll have to go update that. They were some great stories, but the article titles still tell a story of distrust in the community.

[SignalHillHiker]

Typical bay politics. For such a sparsely populated place, battles over land here are absolutely vicious. Almost every single adult I know, including my parents and every aunt/uncle (I have 26, not including their spouses - so like 40-something) have lost a friendship over land. Luckily, most of them are on the indifferent end and it's the other party who is all calling the cops on every noise because the driveway was asphalt and not brick. One of them is even the result of a visiting niece from Ontario being SHOT out of an apple tree with a salt gun by the neighbouring landowner because the tree was in dispute as to which property it was on. She was 13 at the time - salt guns are only a little more painful than BB guns but still. This is what happens out in these rural areas, it's what consumes people.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Typical bay politics. For such a sparsely populated place, battles over land here are absolutely vicious. Almost every single adult I know, including my parents and every aunt/uncle (I have 26, not including their spouses - so like 40-something) have lost a friendship over land. Luckily, most of them are on the indifferent end and it's the other party who is all calling the cops on every noise because the driveway was asphalt and not brick. One of them is even the result of a visiting niece from Ontario being SHOT out of an apple tree with a salt gun by the neighbouring landowner because the tree was in dispute as to which property it was on. She was 13 at the time - salt guns are only a little more painful than BB guns but still. This is what happens out in these rural areas, it's what consumes people.

So much ugliness in landowner disputes. I find the rural "Get off my property" mentality kinda creepy actually. There's a possessiveness there that is dangerous.

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Is that plywood in the turret windows?

Actually, I think of them as mini minarets.



West Side, Vancouver, Feb.1 '18, my pic

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I actually like this.

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I love that too!

I'm sort of on the fence about it. Speaking of fences, there isn't much around the ground floor and the walls are all glass. So, as you relax in your living/dining area you are on full view to the people walking by on the street. Like a stage. Maybe that's the idea.

The rooftop deck would have spectacular views.



West Side, Vancouver, Feb.1 '18, my pic

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Actually, I think of them as mini minarets.



West Side, Vancouver, Feb.1 '18, my pic

They're even worse up close as they don't even match. One has a flat top and the other a point. Also one is stucco and the other stone. How cheap can you get?

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

I'm sort of on the fence about it. Speaking of fences, there isn't much around the ground floor and the walls are all glass. So, as you relax in your living/dining area you are on full view to the people walking by on the street. Like a stage. Maybe that's the idea.

The rooftop deck would have spectacular views.



West Side, Vancouver, Feb.1 '18, my pic

On closer view I like it less. It looks like a commercial podium. The landscaping is atrocious and there is zero privacy. At least invest in blinds or a hedge or something.

[mcminsen]

'Hideous' house in Vancouver's Point Grey neighbourhood compared to WW II bunker

Bloggers jeer against 'ugly' box design that architect says challenges 'preconception about what a house is'


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A peek inside the polarizing Point Grey cube house, on the market for $14 million


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A striking house hits the market


source: https://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/...236.ece/BINARY/w1100/bc-cube0623re01.JPG

[SignalHillHiker]

I really don't find it bad, even up close? I've no idea why.

[FrankieFlowerpot]

the only thing ugly to me about that house is the price

[TorontoDrew]

I love that house.

[bless-u]

The design of the Cube House is actually quite nice. I don't understand the controversy. It'd be better if the lot was actually closer to the sea and have a nicer view. Apparently it is blocked by trees and other houses in front. Only the roof top actually has the unobstructed view. For 14 Millions, the expectation is much higher. I wonder what 14 Millions would buy you in Beverly Hills?

[WhipperSnapper]

That cube house is just not doing it for me like other cube houses. Worst is probably the fireplace flue. I agree with octacular. The landscaping isn't doing it any favours either.

[niwell]

Yeah I generally like that style of architecture, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. It doesn't seem well integrated into the area, either.

[GeneralLea]

Yea....the landscaping looks awful. The house itself isn't terrible with the design, but the ground floor is WAY too exposed and the top floor looks a bit ridiculous....a balcony but no window to view out of? 14 million is insane for that house....

[MolsonExport]

I find it to be ugly. Perhaps if it was set against some rocky backdrop, but where it is now, it just clashes with the neighborhood. And what is the deal with the absence of windows?

[GeneralLea]

This is a new project in Mississauga that's been proposed....god who makes these designs:
[IMG]Bleugh by Josh Kenn Photographics, on Flickr[/IMG]