Are these the ugliest buildings in the world?

M II A II R II K · #1 Posted **Apr 6, 2012, 7:50 PM**

Are these the ugliest buildings in the world?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/...?frame=2159769

21: The ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture and observation tower at the London 2012 Olympic Park. Designed by Anish Kapoor with Cecil Balmond and due to open this year.

20: The Verizon Building or 375 Pearl in New York City. Designed by Rose, Beaton & Rose and opened in 1975.

19: Aldar headquarters building in Abu Dhabi. Designed by MZ Architects and opened in 2010. This coin-shaped building is the world's first circular skyscraper.

18: The Longaberger Basket Company building in Newark, Ohio. Opened in 1997.

17: The Žižkov Television Tower in Prague, Czech Republic. Designed by Václav Aulický and Jiří Kozák and completed in 1992. The tower is adorned with sculptures of crawling babies.

16: Ponte City Apartments in Johannesburg, the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa, at 54 storeys. Designed by Manfred Hermer and completed in 1975.

15: Strata SE1 in Elephant & Castle, London. Designed by BFLS and completed in 2010.

14: The National Library of Belarus in Minsk. Dersigned by Mihail Vinogradov and Viktor Kramarenko and opened in 2006.

13: Grand Lisboa Hotel in Macau. Designed by Hong Kong architects Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man and opened in 2007.

12: The Slovak Radio Building in Bratislava. This inverted pyramid was designed by Štefan Svetko, Štefan Ďurkovič and Barnabáš Kissling and it was completed in 1983.

11: The Elephant Building in Bangkok, Thailand. Designed by Sumet Jumsai and completed in 1997.

10: The SIS Building in Vauxhall, London, also known as the MI6 Building. The headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service was designed by Terry Farrell and opened in 1994.

9: The Mirador Building in Madrid. Designed by Dutch architecture studio MVRDV in collaboration with the Spanish architect Blanca Lleó and opened in 2005.

8: Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia. Designed by Lab Architecture Studio and Bates Smart. Opened in 2002.

7: The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Christ the King in Liverpool. Designed by Frederick Gibberd and opened in 1967.

6: The Russian embassy in Havana, Cuba. Designed by Alexander G Rochegov, and opened in 1985.

5: The Tours Aillaud (also known as Tours Nuages) in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, France. Designed by Emile Aillaud and built in 1977.

4: The Fang Yuan Building in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province. Designed by CY Lee, who fused together the idea of an old Chinese coin, complete with square cut-outs, with a contemporary modern office block. Opened in 2001.

3: The National Library in Pristina, Kosovo. Designed by Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjakovic and opened in 1982.

2: The 105-storey Ryugyong hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea. Designed by Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers. Construction began in 1987 and stopped between 1992 and 2008. Exterior work is now complete, but it is not known if it will ever open.

1: Torre Velasca in Milan, Italy. Designed by the BBPR architectural partnership and built in the 1950s.

BrandonJXN · #2 Posted **Apr 6, 2012, 8:29 PM**

I can't remember if it's in Louisville or Nashville but there is a building that looks to be maid out of doilies. It's a glaring omission.

That and Guy's Hospital.

Pavlov · #3 Posted **Apr 6, 2012, 11:39 PM**

I would go so far as to say that I love these buildings:

Quote:

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

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17: The Žižkov Television Tower in Prague, Czech Republic. Designed by Václav Aulický and Jiří Kozák and completed in 1992. The tower is adorned with sculptures of crawling babies.

12: The Slovak Radio Building in Bratislava. This inverted pyramid was designed by Štefan Svetko, Štefan Ďurkovič and Barnabáš Kissling and it was completed in 1983.

6: The Russian embassy in Havana, Cuba. Designed by Alexander G Rochegov, and opened in 1985.

3: The National Library in Pristina, Kosovo. Designed by Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjakovic and opened in 1982.

Verizon and the Elephant Building definitely belong on the list though.

Jasoncw · #4 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 12:39 AM**

I have a big soft spot for the Elephant Building.

ardecila · #5 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 1:00 AM**

This article claims the Abu Dhabi building is the world's first circular skyscraper, but then they show another circular skyscraper in Shenyang that's 9 years older.

This is, as usual, a stupid list. 90% of the stuff on the internet is worthless, HuffPo style content mills that add zero value and simply aggregate stuff from other places.

vid · #6 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 1:03 AM**

The Elephant Building is fun.

ariesjow · #7 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 2:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

I can't remember if it's in Louisville or Nashville but there is a building that looks to be maid out of doilies. It's a glaring omission.

That and Guy's Hospital.

Kaden Tower in Louisville.

vid · #8 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 2:59 AM**

Made out of doilies.

Alpha · #9 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 3:07 AM**

The building of the Longaberger Basket Company is really original.

Arawooho · #10 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 4:34 AM**

This is a fun thread.

BnaBreaker · #11 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 5:17 AM**

That Stratta SE1 Building is pretty bad ass, and for reasons I cannot put into words, I've always loved that Vodacom building in Jo'burg.

ardecila · #12 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 7:00 AM**

I could do without the wind turbines but yes, it is super-cool.

So is the building in Louisville, although it would look SO much better without the Ruth's Chris sign (and with a good cleaning). It's so top-heavy, it appears to be floating - perfect for a building that's all about lacy lightness.

Unfortunately the screen is built with exposed aggregate concrete, so it cannot be painted or easily cleaned - it is truly the world's ugliest construction material. If the screen was done in modern precast, it would be a thing of beauty.

Also beautiful at night:

source 1
source 2

Illithid Dude · #13 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 7:25 AM**

None of those buildings are ugly. Actually, many of them are really bad-ass. Half of them look like they came from Blade Runner. I can take a ten minute walk and find twenty uglier buildings then the ones posted here.

LSyd · #14 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 4:59 PM**

i like a lot of these. where's the knockoff world trade center twin towers from china? there's also a glut of late 70s and 1980s towers that haven't aged gracefully.

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mousquet · #15 Posted **Apr 7, 2012, 6:26 PM**

I'm actually very pleased to find these in this useless list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

5: The Tours Aillaud (also known as Tours Nuages) in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, France. Designed by Emile Aillaud and built in 1977.

Social housing of course. I mean who the nuts wants to live in there? The day when they're torn down or totally restructured will be a party. While modern architecture can often be wonderful, those brutalist, concrete or 'commieblock' looks heavily developed from the 50s to the 70s were a sorry mistake in my opinion. Some may like it, which is nothing wrong, just a matter of taste, but most don't. It's undeniable.