I love architecture. I also like ugly architecture. I'm just interested in it. Why were patently ugly structures designed, approved, and built? In some cases, there's an easy explanation.
The soviets built many ugly building because they were often short on resources and the blocky, plain-Jane style was meant as a rebuke to Western decadence. In other cases, it just seems to be a matter of bad taste. Consider the following:
It seems to me that most of the ugliest buildings were built in the 70s. This is probably partly to do with the energy crisis during that period. People got worried about the waste caused by lots of windows, so we were left with clunky, concrete buildings with small windows. To wit:
Anyway, here's a list of some buildings I consider to be especially ugly:
This gem (former headquarters of the Longaberger Basket Company) clearly has pretty limited resale value. Somehow they did manage to sell it after the company moved. Not sure whether they're leaving it a basket. Embarrassing headquarters for any non-basket company if so.
Here's another disgrace. Whatever your political affiliations, this is gaudy.
How could I not include this. As I alluded to in the beginning, I think the design here is meant to project an attitude - ascetic and aggressive. Nothing poetic or nuanced. Sound familiar? The design mimics the characteristics of the regime.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/J.Edgar_Hoover_Building-from_street-_2706.jpg
Here, we've got one of those examples of a middle 20th-century small-window, cement facade nightmare. It's not graceful, has no personality, and this seems to suit the agency that occupies the building - the FBI.
See my comments regarding Trump Tower.
Not sure what you'd call this design - absurdist architecture? I think this is simply hideous - a big block supported by spindly, cattywampus beams? Can't believe people sign off on this.
Thanks for reading to my bitter rant. As always, these opinions are a matter of personal taste, and are subject to debate.
Have a wonderful night.
@originalworks
Great compilation you had here @neutrondeflector. Since finding out that you are so passionate about architecture, I would like to invite you to join the tag named #archisteem that my partners and I had just started.
The tag is to curate our existing built environment and also future built environment development. You can know more from here too!
Looking forward to seeing you around :)
Sincerely,
@kimzwarch
Very useful, thank you for sharing with us
Thanks for your reply, sir. Have a great night.
que buena su publicacion
exelente felicidades
Gracias amigo. Buenos noches.
I miss Kowloon
Thank you neutrondeflector for making a transfer to me for an upvote of 18.35% on this post!
Half of your bid goes to @budgets which funds growth projects for Steem like our top 25 posts on Steem!
The other half helps holders of Steem power earn about 60% APR on a delegation to me!
For help, will you please visit https://jerrybanfield.com/contact/ because I check my discord server daily?
To learn more about Steem, will you please use http://steem.guide/ because this URL forwards to my most recently updated complete Steem tutorial?
Thank you for the interesting post. The basket building is really embarrassing. And yes, all the Trump buildings are UGLY.
The Trump tower in Chicago is actually an aesthetically pleasing building. Its placement on the river, causes the glass facade to reflect other buildings beautifully.