World's worst architecture.

[kool maudit]

i wonder if montreal and new orleans appeared that way to parisians in the 18th century.

[Beedok]

I actually sort of liked a couple of the examples, but agree most of them are terrifying.

[chris08876]

Frank Gehry's 'brown paper bag' opens in Sydney

Sydney has joined the list of cities with a Frank Gehry-designed building.

The Chau Chak Wing Business School building has been dubbed the "brown paper bag" by local media.

Speaking at Monday's opening, Mr Gehry said he hoped the building would generate a "spirit of invention".

The A$180m ($140m; £93m) building for the Business School for the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), is named after businessman and philanthropist Dr Chau Chak Wing.

It is the architect's first design to be built in Australia.

Mr Gehry said he had designed a "flexible" building with only a few fixed parts, allowing the building to be changed over time to meet the changing needs of its users.

"People will invent ways to use it," he said

Gehry said that five years after its conception, there were perhaps some things he would change but he was pleased with the finished result.

"I am Jewish and I feel guilty about everything," he joked.

The building - tucked between several small streets in the inner city suburb of Ultimo in Sydney - is a key part of the university's campus master plan. It will house 1,630 students and staff for the UTS Business School.

==============================
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-31087980

[alps]

Island Crest in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong. Island Crest was developed by the Urban Renewal Authority, a government agency with a long and consistent history of tearing down vibrant streetscapes of old shophouses and replacing them with luxury towers atop extremely crude podiums.

The Urban Renewal Authority is actually a tool for private developers to profit off valuable land by providing a simplified expropriation process and large-scale land assembly. Reminder: Hong Kong doesn't have universal suffrage, and collusion between the government and developers runs deep.

I'm surprised the URA even bothers to pretend to be a public service. None of their urban "renewal" projects have ever rehoused displaced residents or businesses in the redevelopment. I put renewal in quotes because they rarely actually renew anything. More often entire city districts are wholly bulldozed and replaced with the most banal podium development.


(image source)

Here's another one, "The Merton" in Kennedy Town, which also replaced a few blocks of affordable old shophouses. Ground floors of URA buildings are mostly long stretches of the following elements: blank wall, ventilation grille, noisy bus terminal, emergency exit doors, smoke vents, parking entrances, etc etc.


(photo credit)

"Langham Place" in Mong Kok. Do you see a trend developing? Blank podiums which tower over the older buildings across the street.

(photo source)

"The Zenith", Wan Chai. A rare example incorporating ground-floor retail. (still garbage)

(photo source)

"Vista", Sham Shui Po. Looks more like a parking garage or a bomb-proof telephone exchange than a residential building.

(photo source)

Kwun Tong Town Centre, in the poorest district of the city, has been demolished in its entirety by the URA. Will be replaced with more wildly unaffordable luxury housing geared toward Mainland investors, plus a giant shopping mall filled with chain stores. No affordable housing.


(photo source)

[MolsonExport]

Brace yourself. From Laval, Quebec, Canada:

francely57

[10023]

How has this thing not been posted yet?

[10023]

And then from my alma mater... Steely will appreciate the brutalism but god this building is hideous:




It's in a very prominent position on campus, and the worst part is how badly built it is. Very little natural light in the classrooms, and an ineffective HVAC system so it's way too hot in the warmer months and freezing during Wisconsin winters.

[chris08876]

Rutgers Newark Chemistry/Bio Building. Terrible place, terrible design.


Olson Hall

I took classes here. Hate this place with a passion. Nail bitingly hard courses, and the design makes it joyless too.

Heres another view:



Building on the left is the physics department. Again, joyless brutalism.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Please remember to correctly attribute photos with a link to the webpage they were found at.

On this page, Laval wins. And it isn't even close. Materials, massing, colour, the clock, the fencing on top. Good grief that thing is barftastic.

[ih8pickingusernames]

Originally Posted by JohnMarko

You've got to be kidding! This is one of the most beautiful towers in NFO. The rest of the towering crap that is present day NFO is what should be torn down - they make a joke of the beauty that is the falls. The Skylon Tower was especially beautiful when it was the only tower on the skyline.

Funny you what this graceful tower torn down, but don't mention the awful "Beefeaters" tower nearby.

I believe this was the inspiration for the CN Tower in Toronto. Surely, the CN Tower's architects ripped off the design of the Skylon for their tower.

Everything built in Niagara Falls is hideous. The Skylon tower looks like a bucket wearing a sombrero.

[M.R.Victor]

There's something about Niagara Falls which seems to bring out the Kevin O'Leary in me.

[Misterfreeman87]

In Germany, especially department stores and shoppingmalls tend to be hideous. A few examples.

Karstadt in Kaiserslautern


Karstadt in Darmstadt


Karstadt in Hamburg


Kaufhof in Heilbronn


Karstadt in Rüsselsheim


Alexa shoppingmall in the centre of Berlin


And another goodie at the end, the Marktdreieck in Waiblingen

[texcolo]

Originally Posted by Misterfreeman87

And another goodie at the end, the Marktdreieck in Waiblingen

This might not be so bad, but that it's smack dab in the middle of a medieval Teutonic berg, makes it horrendous. -1 for contextualism.

[Misterfreeman87]

Yeah thats the thing, I just cant believe that those responsible would allow such a building in that location.

[ArtDecoRevival]

Originally Posted by Misterfreeman87

In Germany, especially department stores and shoppingmalls tend to be hideous. A few examples.

Karstadt in Kaiserslautern


Karstadt in Darmstadt


Karstadt in Hamburg


Kaufhof in Heilbronn


Karstadt in Rüsselsheim


Alexa shoppingmall in the centre of Berlin


And another goodie at the end, the Marktdreieck in Waiblingen

Are these East German buildings or West German as well? I'm assuming the architecture left over from the GDR would be more into the drab, boxy, brutalist look made famous throughout the Soviet Union. These certainly look like they'd fit right in.

EDIT: Well, the first couple buildings at least. That's what I get for replying before I fully scroll down. I don't know what geopolitical era that last building hails from, but it looks like a geometrist's nightmare.

[ThatOneGuy]

All are from West Germany.

Tthere's often a visible difference between western and eastern european Brutalism.

As for this thread the 'world''s worst architecture' is the architecture that is stuck between being historic and modern, therefore nobody cares enough to take care of them and they end up looking like shit.

[Patrick]

Some of my least favorite skyscrapers:

The Golden Landmark Building - Shanghai


http://www.officeask.com/offices/85.html

China Safe Building - Shanghai


http://www.passion-gratte-ciel.com/

William Beaver House - New York City


http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showth...t=4943&page=61

The Elysian - Chicago


http://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2...go-01003-001a/

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by ThatOneGuy

As for this thread the 'world''s worst architecture' is the architecture that is stuck between being historic and modern, therefore nobody cares enough to take care of them and they end up looking like shit.

I think certain styles can work, but it depends on the surroundings and if they styles match or at least integrate well.

Something like the Beaver House just looks like it shouldn't be there next to a cluster of art-deco.

Brutalism can work, but setting is key. The Empire State Plaza can pull it off I feel because its setting is one with openness. Brutalism doesn't seem to look well in dense settings. Add some space, and you've got yourself something thats okay.


Credit: http://fadpalmbeach.blogspot.com/201...-deco-and.html

Even though it does look like something you'd see in North Korea.

[MolsonExport]

Brutalism can work, but setting is key. The Empire State Plaza can pull it off I feel because its setting is one with openness. Brutalism doesn't seem to look well in dense settings. Add some space, and you've got yourself something thats okay.

Good point, and a good example to showcase this perspective.

[Guiltyspark]

I am not a huge fan of Brutalism, but I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Empire State Plaza.