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  #41  
Old Posted Apr 21, 2012, 6:14 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MolsonExport View Post

And Crystal at the ROM in Toronto.
I love the ROM Crystal. As do many people I know and many people I talk to.
I guess it's like the Louvre Pyramid.

Anyways my submission:



Yea, I know Brutalism blah blah blah. I like Brutalism and think this building needs to be stuck with more dynamite than a Wile E Coyote scheme. Even worse, it's the foot of the city's most important street, and depending on who you talk to, the world's longest: Yonge Street.


Just to provide some perspective, this is the building that was formerly the headquarters of the Toronto Star:


"Upgrading."
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  #42  
Old Posted Apr 21, 2012, 10:39 AM
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The proportions and scale are out of whack compared to buildings that would traditionally feature that kind of ornamentation. The tower portion in particular was very poorly thought out in terms of composition of details and massing. It's quite awkward I think. Simply put, that building doesn't follow the guidelines for an aesthetically pleasing building that would be applied to buildings that typically have those details. It has failed at being a historically accurate building, and since that was really the only thing it offered to the view, it has failed as a part of the city's built form.

Not the ugliest building in the world, but certainly not beautiful and definitely nothing to be proud of. Its mediocre at best. The multiple gable ended wings that repeat themselves on the left of the photo are almost as weird looking as the tower behind them. It really is the tower that brings so much attention to it. If the tower wasn't there, it probably wouldn't be as jarring, but the massing is still pretty screwed up. Either the architect didn't understand classical and gothic proportions, or they didn't care to take advantage of them.

Those who like it probably only like it because they see old-looking architectural details and think they're pretty. It's really just lipstick on a badly proportioned pig.

The interiors could either be really nice or really bad. I've seen examples both. Thankfully it is typically the former so at least the people living there aren't suffering too much. (I mean, the floor plans are really bad, but at least the cupboards and floors aren't as poorly executed as the massing and details of the exterior.)
Thanks, Vid - you summed up what I think about that building far better than I could.

I hear what people are saying about how it could be worse, and how at least it looks like someone made an effort by adding some decorative features/attractive materials, but I think if you are going to add historical features, you either have to do it in a way that shows some appreciation for the principles behind them, or do it in a playful way, like:


Joe Schmoe, Architectura Boston, http://archboston.org/archive/viewto...95ad2f7636cd24
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  #43  
Old Posted Apr 21, 2012, 1:53 PM
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That looks just as bad to me. Palladian windows were never meant to be every window. At least it has other things around it do draw attention away from how awkward it looks.
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  #44  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2012, 11:51 PM
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This thread proves that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Half those pictured in the first post I would consider "cool" or even "silly" and not "ugly".

To each his own...

Never saw the "basket" before...very kitch...not at all my "cup of tea".

I'd rather take a radio or other appliance and make a building design out of it than ever imagine doing the "basket" thing. Alto - the Brown Derby and Donut in LA are my humorous faves...
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  #45  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2012, 12:10 AM
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Ugly is to vague a word. It could mean anything.

You could say a building has a bland facade, out of proportion, dated coloring, too busy.... etc.
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  #46  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2012, 1:00 AM
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Ugliest buildings should be reserved for buildings that look like they never had the foresight to complete the building on top of their anachronistic or naïvely ambitious designs.

I would submit Peregrine Point in Edmonton.



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  #47  
Old Posted Apr 27, 2013, 6:46 PM
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I don't know what's more disgusting--these buildings of the fact that people were willing to whore out their cities to the people that built them. It will be a fine day when these dehumanizing, tacky, and conformatist structures are all torn down.
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  #48  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2013, 10:02 AM
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I like some of these buildings.
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  #49  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2013, 10:35 PM
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19, 10 and 7 are all quite attractive.
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  #50  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2013, 1:49 AM
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The ArcelorMittal is Ok. It's a sculpture.

The Verizon is awful.

The Aldar is OK, it' better than the Shard by along shot.

The Basket is cute.

The TV tower is neither here nor there, it's a TV tower for chrissakes.

The Ponte tower is ordinary.

The Strata has ugly cladding and glazing, it is ordinary except for the sweet little fans above that probably cool London in summer.

The National Library in Minsk is ridiculous but it looks great in Minsk, come to think of it my wife looks good in minsk...

The hotel in Macau is perfect, and stunning.

The slovak radio building is OK, it reminds me of the canadian pavilion at Expo67. It passes except for the junk on top.

The elephant building is not for real, it is a lego construct in someone's egotistical mind. I love it. I love my wife and humanity too, and I am not drunk.

The MI6 building in London is grandiose. If you look at it long enough, you may rekindle the phantasy that the british are still in control.

The mirador building in Madrid is OK, actually it may be a little more than OK.

Federation Square in Melbourne is excellent, like most of what goes up in Melbourne it seems. Something in the water dispensers at Melbourne architect studios methinks.

The church in Liverpool is OK.

The russian embassy in Havana is sweet and tender like a concrete skin.

The tours Nuage in Paris are lovely.

The Fang Yuan bldg in China is cute as a button.

The National library in Pristina grows on me; like maggots on a carcass.

The hotel in Pyongyang is better than the Shard by a long mile.

The torre Velasca in Milan is lovely, it is a nice reflection on Italy's great storybook of architecture aand yet it is modern and asymptomatic of the kind of buildings built anywhere at that time. A masterpiece.
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  #51  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2013, 2:02 AM
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If you drive between New York and Boston you can't help but barf just a little bit as you pass through New Haven. This is the old Pirelli building.


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  #52  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2013, 4:19 AM
ThatDarnSacramentan ThatDarnSacramentan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown View Post
If you drive between New York and Boston you can't help but barf just a little bit as you pass through New Haven. This is the old Pirelli building.


preservationinpink
I can't help but think that that would make a great zombie fortress.
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  #53  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2013, 8:14 PM
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I think it looks cool. Some tough engineering there. Just sandblast the concrete and you've got a nice looking building.
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  #54  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2013, 11:19 PM
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Yeah, that one is pretty cool. Buildings that have one building hanging above another one are cool no matter how ugly they are.
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  #55  
Old Posted May 1, 2013, 1:53 AM
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Without a doubt, yes.
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  #56  
Old Posted May 1, 2013, 2:05 AM
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Without a doubt, no.
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  #57  
Old Posted May 1, 2013, 4:02 AM
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Many of them are disgusting, but who cares really....
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  #58  
Old Posted May 1, 2013, 3:24 PM
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Paint that Pirelli building white (or black, with dark glaze green windows) and youve got a classic. Leave it as it is and it's ugly as shit.
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  #59  
Old Posted May 1, 2013, 11:05 PM
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We can't appreciate form if it isn't a pretty colour.
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  #60  
Old Posted May 2, 2013, 5:36 PM
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Originally Posted by ThatDarnSacramentan View Post
I can't help but think that that would make a great zombie fortress.
Especially considering it's vacant. It occupies the parking lot of IKEA. Thankfully they didn't tear it down when they built the store, but it sits there empty surrounded by people buying cheap modern furniture.
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