SHANGRALA'S
UGLY
ARCHITECTURE!
Big and strange doesn't equal beautiful when it comes to architecture. In fact,
if you are guided by these principles and these principles only when approving
an architecture project, you might end up creating some hilariously bad buildings,
and these design fails are the proof of that, as all of them are considered
failures despite being seemingly thought through, large-scale projects.
Yes, They're That Funny! See For Yourself. Enjoy! :)
Elephant Tower - Location: Bangkok, Thailand:
Located smack-dab in the middle
of the Thai capital's business district is the infamous Elephant Tower, one
of the largest high-rise buildings in Bangkok. No surprise that it's also
the most recognized skyscraper in the city, as its awkward attempt to resemble
an elephant is difficult to ignore.
Why did anyone think creating it is a good idea? Well, elephants are considered
a sacred animal in the country, as well as a symbol of royalty and Thailand's
national symbol, so the thought of creating an enormous elephant-shaped
skyscraper probably seemed like a good idea at the time.
Torre Glories - Location: Bacrelona, Spain:
Completed in 2005, the 38-story Torre Glories overwhelmed Barcelona's skyline
forever. To make matters even worse, they even decided to make it light up in
all colors of the rainbow at night. But don't bail on visiting beautiful
Barcelona just because of this bullet looking monstrosity, just remember that
there are over 10 of Gaudi's masterpieces in Barcelona.
Source.
The Selfridges Building - Location: Birmingham, England:
Most of you will agree that anything that looks like a giant alien slug that
landed on Earth and is in the process of devouring a bridge is difficult to
love. No wonder this building was voted the ugliest in the UK in 2008. On the
bright side, this one's a shopping center, so at least you'd spend most of
your time inside without having to admire its charming blobbiness.
Image Source.
The Royal Ontario Museum's Crystal - Location: Toronto, Canada:
From one ugly building to another, behold the crystal room at The Royal
Ontario Museum, which is also known as 'the most hated building in Canada'.
This recent addition to the museum was completed in 2007 and it isn't
functional, not to mention that it clashes with the adjacent museum facade
completed at the beginning of the 20th century. However, sources say some
Canadians have learned to tolerate it.
Image Source.
Kaden Tower - Location: Louisville, Kentucky:
It turns out the United States aren't immune to terrible architecture designs
either, and a great example of that is Kaden Tower, a 15-story office building
that resembles a box of tissues more than any building should.
To make things even worse, as the official website of Louiseville itself
compares the poor building design to a Kleenex box.
Image Source.
Building of Slovak Radio - Location: Bratislava, Slovakia:
Completed in 1983, the radio center in Slovakia is a questionable design choice.
This oversized rusty upside-down pyramid shouldn't fit as the face of any
national institution.
Admittedly, the building was created in an era where socialist realism, an art
style imposed by Socialist rule, dominated the art scene in the country and it
remains a remnant of that era. According to the website of the Slovakian capital,
the city inhabitants do recognize the building as an important part of the city
landscape.
Image Source.
The Orange County Government Center - Location: Goshen, New York:
This building may be ugly, but in 2012, it earned its place under the sun
when the county officials approved its long-awaited and much-needed
renovation. Until the renovations have started, however, there was a lot of
discussion and the New York Times even dedicated an article titled "Are Some
Buildings Too Ugly To Survive?" questioning if unsightly buildings like this
one should be eligible to renovations at all.
Since the government center is one of the few examples of large brutalist
architecture projects from the 1960's, it was deemed worthy to be restored
and cherished. The renovations of the building were finished in 2018.
Image Source.
Ryugyong Hotel - Location: Pyongyang, North Korea:
This North Korean hotel holds the Guinness record for being the tallest
unoccupied building in the world, but why does this monstrosity of a
building remain empty? There is no real answer to this question, as it
has been standing tall above all other buildings in Pyongyang for nearly 4
decades.
Admittedly, construction stopped in the 1990's due to lack of funds to
continue the project and didn't resume for another decade, during which
the ugly building earned its creepy nickname "Hotel of Doom". However,
construction resumed in the early 2000s and the hotel was supposed to open
in 2012, but it never did
Image Source.
Zizkov Television Tower - Location: Prague, Czechia:
The Zizkov Television Tower sticks out like a sore thumb in the historical
cityscape of the Czech capital, but simply building a tall futuristic-looking
tower very close to the city center wasn't enough, so it has been further
embellished by enormous statues of creepy faceless babies seemingly crawling
up and down the tower.
Luckily, the statues were removed a few years back for
renovation, but the tower stands tall and will continue doing so, as the locals
seem to really love this weird ugly building.
Image Source.
National Library of Kosovo - Location: Pristina, Kosovo:
The last item on this list is the main library in Kosovo that was conceptualized
as a mix of Byzantine and Islamic architecture, but fails to catch this
resemblance, at least from the building's exterior design. And while most
Kosovars appreciate the brutalist style of the building, online publications
write the following about the architecture of the library,
"It's been said that when the building first opened, some thought the giant
net-like feature was actually scaffolding".
Yes, the building does look a little bit like a ham wrapped in netting, but
beyond its strange ugly looks, one must also recognize the historical and national
importance of the building.
Image Source.
Share This And Amuse
All Your Fun Loving Friends! :)
SEE ALSO: Crazy Architecture!
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