Architecture Show: Bad Architecture

rayvonn

rayvonn

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I detest this building. Blighting the cityscape in Sydney. Now the city’s biggest, erect and shiny (probably as an ode to its male owner) and as overcompensations go, this one’s spectacular. Of course, the owner is far more powerful than the city’s politicians, so clearance was waved through for it to be built. And naturally, it’s a 75 floor casino. In conclusion, a loathsome embarrassment.

It's inspired me to start this thread. Perhaps you have examples of buildings which are obviously and immediately bad or, bit by bit, start to really get on your nerves. If so, please post here.

R0018729 copy.jpg
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MoonMind

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I'll get a few shots from a town I lived in when I was a teenager ... They managed to copy fascist architecture for a modern mall; I remember feeling like I was visiting the EUR in Rome whenever I wanted to get some take away snack at noon - and my mother was actually reminded of the Reichsparteitagsgelände in Nuremberg (one of Albert Speers many megalomaniac representative Nazi buildings) ... Should definitely be worth an entry, and it'll be interesting to find out how well (or badly) these buildings have aged in the last 35 or so years since they were built; I haven't visited them with a camera (or even open eyes) ever since I moved away 25 years ago, and I don't recall taking an image, ever.

Great thread, thanks for coming up with this idea!

M.
 
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Carbonman

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Vancouver BC
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Graham
I don't know if this meets the criteria but it shares some design similarities with the building that started this thread; specifically the twisting offset floor plates. What makes this building particularly loathsome in the minds of most locals is the name of the current occupant of the US White House spread across the facade in 2m high letters. This is a hotel, now vacant due to COVID-19.
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1161 West Georgia Street, Vancouver by Graham Moore, on Flickr
 
Richard

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Graham Moore said:
I don't know if this meets the criteria but it shares some design similarities with the building that started this thread; specifically the twisting offset floor plates. What makes this building particularly loathsome in the minds of most locals is the name of the current occupant of the US White House spread across the facade in 2m high letters. This is a hotel, now vacant due to COVID-19.
View attachment 2358161161 West Georgia Street, Vancouver by Graham Moore, on Flickr
Click to expand...
Apart from the associations with DT, I don't mind this one. I think the twist adds a bit of visual interest to what would otherwise be a very dull geometric shape.

I'll have to see what horrors are lurking in my archives. I only tend to take pictures of buildings I like, but there might be the odd rogue in there.

-R
 
Richard

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OK, here's one.

DSC00413.JPG
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This is the classic view of Manhattan, taken from the Top Of The Rock down towards the Empire State Building, with the new World Trade Centre and New York Harbour beyond. Lovely, or at least it would be if I de-hazed it.

You see huge versions of this image on people's home and office walls.

But what the hell is that building in the foreground? The one which is just an array of black windows. It's in every shot you see of the Empire State Building taken from this side, and I think it's horrible. I don't know its name, and if I did I would nominate it for immediate demolition.

-R
 
rayvonn

rayvonn

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Richard said:
OK, here's one.

View attachment 236020

This is the classic view of Manhattan, taken from the Top Of The Rock down towards the Empire State Building, with the new World Trade Centre and New York Harbour beyond. Lovely, or at least it would be if I de-hazed it.

You see huge versions of this image on people's home and office walls.

But what the hell is that building in the foreground? The one which is just an array of black windows. It's in every shot you see of the Empire State Building taken from this side, and I think it's horrible. I don't know its name, and if I did I would nominate it for immediate demolition.

-R
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Fair to say the foreground building doesn’t have bags of character does it.
 
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rayvonn

rayvonn

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ReneBee said:
How do you rate this? I like the photo, but the architecture is indeed dreadful.
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In Sydney, where I'm living and where the picture was taken, these buildings have proven to be very wobbly after 5 to 10 years, it's not uncommon, for owners of the apartments to have to move out and relocate at their own cost due to a danger of the building becoming unsafe, maybe collapsing. Of course, the developer has more often than not created a dummy company under which these blocks are built which is then wound up after all apartments have been sold (meaning the owners can't sue the developer when the building falls down). Knowing all this, I'd rate those kind of buildings as as quite apalling.
 
pdk42

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Royal Leamington Spa, UK
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Paul
Interesting thread this...

This is Durham University's Student Union building, Dunelm House. Designed by Ove Arup, it's a building that you love or loath (like the Kingsgate Bridge nearby). There are plans to demolish it, but there is a lot of opposition to that - Dunelm House, Durham


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Ove Arup and his Durham Monstrosity by Paul Kaye, on Flickr
 
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rayvonn

rayvonn

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pdk42 said:
Interesting thread this...

This is Durham University's Student Union building, Dunelm House. Designed by Ove Arup, it's a building that you love or loath (like the Kingsgate Bridge nearby). There are plans to demolish it, but there is a lot of opposition to that - Dunelm House, Durham


View attachment 239842
Ove Arup and his Durham Monstrosity by Paul Kaye, on Flickr
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On first look of your image, I thought to myself that it doesn't look that bad, I also have a soft spot for the place for it's where my parents met in the 60s. Then I clicked on the link - yeah, it's real bad!
 
ErichH

ErichH

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MoonMind said:
I'll get a few shots from a town I lived in when I was a teenager ... They managed to copy fascist architecture for a modern mall; I remember feeling like I was visiting the EUR in Rome whenever I wanted to get some take away snack at noon - and my mother was actually reminded of the Reichsparteitagsgelände in Nuremberg (one of Albert Speers many megalomaniac representative Nazi building) ... Should definitely be worth an entry, and it'll be interesting to find out how well (or badly) these buildings have aged in the last 35 or so years since they were built; I haven't visited them with a camera (or even open eyes) ever since I moved away 25 years ago, and I don't recall taking an image, ever.

Great thread, thanks for coming up with this idea!

M.
Click to expand...
I'd love to see that one! And this is just part of an eyesore, currently being erected where I live...

_A010039-01.jpeg
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Right at the waterfront. Nobody except the "democratically elected decision-makers" and the Saudi owned property company wanted a giant hotel/congress center blocking the view.

Obviously they were not in on the Covid-19 conspiracy 😂
 

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