The ugliest buildings of the world. These buildings and monuments were recognized as the ugliest in the world.
Not all modern architects are absolute geniuses, like, for example, Zaha Hadid or Norman Foster. If the authors who build absolutely terrible buildings, which you can't even look at without valerian. And today we will tell you about 10 most disgusting from an architectural point of view structures of the modern world.
In 2014, one of the strangest and most controversial buildings on the planet was opened in the French city of Lyon. It is about, which the authors of the project from the Coop Himmelb (l) au company call "Cloud" or "Crystal", and the locals simply call "Hole".
The fact is that among all the other elements of the appearance of this already very angular and visually strange structure, what stands out most of all is the huge glass depression on the facade of the Musee des confluences, which looks like a trail from a meteorite that fell there during the construction.
Perhaps the authors of the building project, which houses the Bull Ring shopping center in the city of Birmingham, did not think that their work would cause so much controversy among the residents of this locality. They just wanted to build a small pedestrian overpass between the main building and the neighboring house. But it turned out to be very unattractive for them.
To an outside observer, when looking at the Bull Ring shopping center, it may seem that this building has grown a trunk, which is very strange, given that the building has a bull in its name, not an elephant.
The 21-storey Edificio Mirador residential building in Madrid looks like it was built from LEGO by some huge kid, completely unfamiliar with the principles of good architecture.
Edificio Mirador has angular forms, strange organization of balconies and entrances, as well as literally a hole inside the building, which is not conditioned by anything from either a visual point of view or from a practical point of view. It was originally planned that the terrace would have a common space and a garden, but these ideas were never realized.
Residential apartment house Habitat-67 in Montreal, Canada looks like an anthill or termite mound. It looks like it consists of many small rectangular blocks that have been stacked on top of each other in a random order, leaving holes, gaps and just a huge amount of free space.
The Habitat-67 building is the result of daring architectural experiments that took place in Montreal in the sixties and seventies of the twentieth century. And this 146-apartment residential building itself was built in 1967 for the World's Fair, which was held in this Canadian city.
The Habitat-67 building was designed by the then 24-year-old architect Moshe Safdie, for whom it was a thesis. Perhaps at the time of construction this building looked experimental and unusual, but now one epithet is applicable here - terrible.
For the 2014 Winter Olympics, many new buildings and entire complexes were built in Sochi and the surrounding area. However, not all of them are masterpieces of modern architecture. Moreover, some, on the contrary, can be cited as an example for students-architects in the textbooks "How You Can't Build".
The worst building ever built in Sochi for the Olympics is the Marriott Hotel on Krasnaya Polyana, where mountain competitions were held as part of the Games. For some reason, the austere facade of this building is decorated with five pseudo-Greek pseudo-porticas, which gives it a VERY eclectic and even ridiculous appearance.
Interestingly, does Marriott itself know what architectural ugliness their logo rises above?
Connoisseurs of modern architecture have long been divided into two groups of approximately the same size. The first believes that the famous architect Frank Gehry creates masterpieces, the genius of which has not yet been understood by the general public, while the other fiercely criticizes everyone new project from the master. But with the advent of the 8 Spruce Street skyscraper in New York, Gehry's opponents far outnumbered his supporters.
From the outside, this 265-meter skyscraper looks like it was badly damaged by a hurricane wind or unbearable heat, and therefore noticeably deformed and "floated". But, in fact, these unusual shapes were conceived by Frank Gehry himself at the stage of creating the project.
In the small Spanish town of Ponferrada, there was no and there is no point in building skyscrapers, the number of inhabitants in this settlement is slightly more than 68 thousand people, and there are more than enough free areas for building. So it is not clear what the customers of the building called Torre de la Rosaleda were guided by when they decided to build the skyscraper.
It was planned that the Torre de la Rosaleda would be used as an apartment building as well as an office center. But no one ever moved into the apartments equipped in a skyscraper, only the owner of the developer company began to live on the top floor of the house. At first, a local TV company entered Torre de la Rosaleda, but over time it also left the building.
But the worst thing about Torre de la Rosaleda is not even the silence in which the owner of the building has been living for four years, but the terrible appearance of this house, which you don't even want to look at from the outside.
It happens that from the back of the building they look much less presentable than from the front. The Experience Music Project in Seattle is one of the few examples in the world where a building is almost as ugly as you look at it.
The Experience Music Project is dedicated to contemporary art, which is also quite often highly controversial. So, with its appearance, this structure, apparently, prepares visitors for the horrors that they will see inside. Tellingly, this is the second ugly building from the architect Frank Gehry in our thematic review.
Speaking above about the Musee des confluences in Lyon, we said that an outside observer may have the feeling that a meteorite fell on this structure during construction. In the case of House Attack in Vienna, ... another house fell on it.
House Attack is an unusual experiment by the Austrian artist Erwin Wurm. He added an additional volume to the building of one of the museums of modern art in Vienna - a private house on the roof turned upside down, as if by a hurricane brought to the center of the Austrian capital.
The ugliest building in Europe, if not in the whole world, is undoubtedly considered in the city of Prague. This 216-meter structure was built in 1986-1992 in the form of three concrete pillars, interconnected by asymmetrical horizontal functional platforms.
Even at the project stage, this TV tower was subjected to merciless criticism. People ridiculed her awkward forms, as well as a negative impact on general form Prague - a rare panoramic shot of the city now does without a tower on it. Even if you are filming the central, historical part of the Czech capital.
In order to somehow give the ugly structure a pleasant appearance, the Czechs decided to illuminate the tower at night, and also installed several dozen figures of giant babies on it, climbing up vertical concrete pillars.
Buildings of the world.
1. ArcelorMittal Orbit is a sculpture and observatory in one building in Olympic Park in London. Designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond and due to open this year. Picture: Julian Finney / Getty Images
2. "Verizon Building" or the building on the street. Pearl 375 in New York. Designed by Rose, Beaton & Rose in 1975 Picture: Alamy
3. The headquarters of the company "Aldar" in Abu Dhabi. Designed by MZ Architects and opened in 2010. This lens-shaped building is the world's first circular skyscraper. Picture: Alamy
4. Longaberger Basket Company building for hand baskets and related products, Newark, Ohio. Opened in 1997. Picture: Alamy
5. Zizkov Television Tower in Prague, Czech Republic. Designed by architects Vaclav Aulicky and Jiří Kozak, and built in 1992. The tower is decorated with sculptures of crawling babies. Picture: Alamy
6. 54-storey residential complex "Ponte City Apartments" in Johannesburg - the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa. Designed by Manfred Hermer in 1975 Picture: Alamy
7. The Strata SE1 building, also known as the Razor, in the Elephant & Castle area of London. Designed by BFLS in 2010 Picture: Alamy
8. National Library of Belarus in Minsk. Designed by Mikhail Vinogradov and Viktor Kramarenko and opened in 2006. Picture: Alamy
9. Hotel "Grand Lisboa" in Macau. Designed by Hong Kong architects Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man and opened 2007 Picture: Alamy
10. The building of the Slovak radio in Bratislava. This inverted pyramid was designed by Stefan Svetko, Stefan Durkovich and Barnabas Kiessling and completed in 1983. Picture: Alamy
11. Elephant building in Bangkok, Thailand. Designed by Sumet Yumsai and completed in 1997. Picture: Alamy
12. The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) Building, also known as the MI6 Building, in Vauxhall, London. British CPC headquarters designed by Terry Farrell and opened in 1994 Picture: Alamy
13. Building "Mirador Building" in Madrid. Designed by the Dutch architecture studio MVRDV in collaboration with Spanish architect Blanca Lleo. Opened in 2005. Picture: Alamy
14. Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia. Designed by Lab Architecture Studio and Bates Smart. Opened 2002 Picture: Alamy
15. Liverpool Catholic Cathedral. Designed by Frederick Gibberd and opened in 1967. Picture: Alamy
16. Building of the Russian Embassy in Havana, Cuba. Designed by Alexander Rochegov and opened in 1985. Picture: INTERFOTO / Alamy
17. Buildings "Tours Aillaud" (also known as "Tours Nuages") in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, France. Designed by Emile Ayo and built in 1977. Picture: Alamy
18. The Fang Yuan Building in Shenyang, China. Designed by the architect S.Yu. Li, who decided to combine the shape of an ancient Chinese coin with a square cut and a modern office building. Opened 2001 Picture: Quirky China News / Rex Features
19. National Library in Pristina, Kosovo. Designed by Croatian architect Andrija Mutnyakovic and opened in 1982. Picture: Marco di Lauro / Getty Images
20. Hotel "Ryugyon" in Pyongyang, DPRK. Designed by Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers. Construction began in 1987 and stopped from 1992 to 2008. External work has been completed, but it is not known if there will ever be an opening. Picture: Getty Images
21. Building "Torre Velasca" in Milan, Italy. Designed by the BBPR Architectural Partnership and built in the 1950s. Picture: Alamy
Among the modern buildings, you can see buildings that cause, to put it mildly, bewilderment. At the same time, among the authors of these structures there are also famous recognized architects. Here is a selection of some of the ugliest houses in the world.
The ugly house Torre de la Rosaleda
The skyscraper was built in the small Spanish town of Montferrada, whose entire population is about 70 thousand people. For what need it is not clear. Nobody wanted to buy apartments there. Only for a while there was a local TV station, and a representative of the developer lived there. And the ugly building itself ruined the whole appearance of the city.
Scary House Attack
Habitat-67
This ugly residential building is located in Montreal. It looks scary: it resembles a giant concrete anthill.
The ugly complex Tours Aillaud
Any of the 18 residential buildings included in this complex can claim the title of "freak". The complex is united by a common idea - no corners. It is located near Paris, by Emile Ayo. The facades of the houses are painted with paint supposedly imitating the colors of nature, but in fact giving them a shabby and unattractive look.
The author of this building, built as if by an inept child, is one of the founders of architectural deconstructivism, Frank Gary. This is a prime example of how nonsense can turn out in the pursuit of originality.
Another unusual building from Frank Gary, rebuilt this time in New York. The skyscraper looks like it was warped from a hurricane or melted from the heat.
The house is located in Madrid. It looks like it is assembled from LEGO parts. In addition to the amazing design of the premises, the structure has a giant hole inside, it is not clear what it was intended for.
Strangest Experience Music Project
The building is located in Seattle. Inside is a museum of modern art, the attitude towards which many people have ambiguous. The building's ugly exterior appears to be preparing visitors for a possible shock from the exhibits.
This building in Lyon is officially called the "Museum of the Confluence". Designers call it "Crystal", and residents of the city - "Hole". The shape of the ugly house is strange in itself, and you can also see a giant dent on the facade, as if from the impact of a meteorite.
This unattractive building is located in Prague. The height of the tower is 216 m. It consists of three pillars connected by platforms. The building not only looks ugly, it also spoils the overall impression of the old city.
To make the tower look at least a little more pleasant, lighting was organized there. They also installed giant figures of babies climbing on it. Zizkov TV Tower is considered by many to be the ugliest building in Europe, and perhaps in the world.
People have different tastes. There are those who consider these structures a flight of creative thought, and those who call them nothing but “horror”.
As it turned out recently, the dignity of many architectural monuments was slightly overestimated, and in fact there is nothing to see there.
Judge for yourself, is everything so ugly or at least something can be rehabilitated?
Tenth place (all photos are enlarged)
The Slavic people have always been distinguished by their craving for art and delicate taste. In the tenth place of our parade, Moscow monument to Peter the Great... This is the largest monument ever erected to honor an emperor. It was erected in 1997 on the Moscow River by sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, president Russian Academy arts.
It's funny that when the master offered his services to the Americans, in the hope that his sculpture of Christopher Columbus would decorate one of the streets of Jersey, they were politely refused. Three times in a row. Well, not yours, but ours. Foreign tourists called the monument an absurd symbiosis of "Pirates of the Caribbean" with the cartoon characters of the Gothic director Tim Burton.
Ninth place
Libraries don't have to impress with their beauty. The main thing is that they have books, and the appearance is a secondary matter. Probably, this is the principle that the brutalist architect John Madine was guided by when designing the building. Birmingham Central Library.
Prince Charles was far from flattering about this masterpiece of architecture. “Here, it seems, books are burned, not kept,” the heir to the throne quipped. It is not surprising that the issue of demolishing the building has been raised more than once at the city council. Bravo, brutalists, ninth place.
Eighth place
Eighth place went to the Scottish freak: Christmas trees, stones and bamboo form something similar to parliament building in edinburgh... Enric Miralles, the architect who designed the building, died peacefully, even before the work was finished.
The official opening took place with the participation of Queen Elizabeth just four years ago, but during this time the building managed to become famous: it seems that there were more disputes about it than in the building itself. One hope is that discussions within the walls of parliament were more constructive. By the way, professional architects consider the work to be one of the best office buildings in the world. But, as they say, the voice of the people is the voice of God.
Seventh place
What we do not understand, we call contemporary art. Perhaps, the building of the Museum of Fine Arts in Liechtenstein was simply not understood, and therefore won the seventh place in the hit parade of ugly houses. Huge black cube with total area 1,750 squares were erected in the center of Vaduz in 2000.
Someone calls it a work of art in a minimalist style, but for someone it is like an eyesore. The latter's opinion was confirmed when the museum building was recognized as one of the ugliest in the world.
Sixth place
The sixth place was taken by the Madrid Torres de Colón. Columbus tower the townspeople call it a "plug": if you look closely, at the very top of the building you can see a structure in the form of an electric plug, which, in fact, connects the two towers together.
The building was designed by local architect Antonio Lamello and today the architectural object is estimated at $ 116 million.
Fifth place
Driving past an iron monster called New york port bus station, I just want to inquire about the date of the project completion. After all, it would never occur to anyone that the iron piles, which usually support houses during construction, are a design element.
Meanwhile, the construction of the building was completed in 1950. Since its opening, about three billion people have passed through the "golden gate" of Manhattan. Both tourists and locals hate the bus station: you look at this cold structure and you immediately want to leave. So, the metal monster is fifth.
Fourth place
In fourth place Liverpool Catholic Cathedral, decorated in a space style. Outwardly, it is a cross between a rocket and a flying saucer studded with antennas. A church was built on a hill so that it could be seen from different points of the city.
It took five years to build the temple, and it was built by the Catholic Irish diaspora. The cathedral may look funny from the outside, but its interior design, altar and stained-glass windows are simply breathtaking.
Third place
Third place in the parade of the ugliest buildings in the world took giant "Golden Horseshoe", hanging over the huge shopping center of the Finnish Tuuri.
According to legend, the horseshoe and the city itself bring happiness to all its residents and tourists. The monument is, of course, ugly, but happiness is more important.
Second place
Even Paris, the city of love and beauty, has ugly buildings. World famous Montparnasse tower came second in our freak parade.
Residents of the French capital have no choice but to laugh it off, saying: "But this tower offers an excellent view of the city without the Montparnasse tower!" They say the French are already raising funds for the demolition of the building.
First place
The first place went to America. And who would doubt: the pursuit of the championship is a purely American way of life. Boston City Council Building(Massachusetts) - gold medalist.
Built 45 years ago by brutalists from construction company Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles, then the building made a splash. However, today at least the least irony is spoken about him.
Based on materials:
The Daily Telegraph has compiled a list of the ugliest buildings in the world. We bring it to your attention.
1. 21st place. The strange-looking ArcelorMittal Orbit tower, built in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The tower is located in the Olympic Park in London. Its height is 120 meters. There will be an observation deck at the top of the tower. The building was designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecile Balmond. The tower is due to open this year.
2. 20th place. The Verizon Building, number 375 Pearl Street, New York. The building was designed by Rose, Beaton & Rose. The building was built in 1975.
3. 19th place. Aldar construction company office in Abu Dhabi. The building was designed by MZ Architects. The building was opened in 2010. This is the first round skyscraper in the world.
4. 18th place. The Longaberger Basket Company building located in Newark, Ohio. It opened in 1997. This is the office of The Longaberger Basket Company.
5.17th place. Zizkov Television Tower in Prague, Czech Republic. The construction was designed by Vaclav Aulicky and Jiri Kozak. The construction of the building was completed in 1992. The building is decorated with figures of crawling babies.
6. 16th place. Ponte City Apartments in Johannesburg, the tallest skyscraper residential complex in Africa. Its height is fifty-four floors. The building was designed by Manfred Hermer. The construction of this building was completed in 1975.
7. 15th place. Strata Tower SE1 at Elephant & Castle, London. The building was designed by BFLS. The construction of this building was completed in 2010. The building has 42 floors.
8. 14th place. The building of the National Library of Belarus in Minsk. The construction was designed by Mikhail Vinogradov with the participation of Viktor Kramarenko. The building was opened in 2006.
10. 12th place. The headquarters of the Slovak Radio in Bratislava. The inverted pyramid-shaped building was designed by architects Stefan Svetko, Stefan Durkovic and Barnabas Kissling. The construction of this building was completed in 1983.
11. 11th place. Elephant Building, or "Elephant Building", located in Bangkok, Thailand. It is 32 stories high. The building was designed by Sumet Jumsai. The building was completed in 1997.
12. 10th place. The building that houses the headquarters of British intelligence, London. It is also known as the "MI6 Building" or "MI6 Building". The building was designed by architect Terry Farrell. The construction of this building was completed in 1994.
13. 9th place. Residential building Mirador Building located in Madrid. The construction was designed by the Dutch architectural company MVRDV with the participation of the Spanish architect Blanca Lleo. There is a large opening on the façade at a height of 37 meters. The construction of this building was completed in 2005.
14. 8th place. Federation Square in central Melbourne, Australia. The designers of the building that decorate (or disfigure) the square were the architectural company Lab Architecture Studio and Bates Smart. The construction was completed in 2002.
15. 7th place. Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Christ the King, located in Liverpool. The building was designed by Frederick Gibberd. The construction of this building was completed in 1967.
16. 6th place. The building of the Russian embassy in Havana, Cuba. The building was built in 1985. The building was designed by Alexander G Rochegov.
17. 5th place. Residential complex Tours Aillaud in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre. The building was designed by Emile Aillaud. The construction of this building was completed in 1977. Distinctive feature of all buildings included in this complex, is the lack of corners.
18. 4th place. The Fang Yuan Building office building in Shenyang, Liaoning Province in northeastern China. The building was designed by CY Lee, who combined the look of an old Chinese coin with square cutouts with the design of a modern office building. The construction of this building was completed in 2001.
19. 3rd place. The building of the National Library in Pristina, Kosovo. The Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjakovic became the designer of the building. The construction of this building was completed in 1982.
20. 2nd place. Ryugyong hotel. Located in Pyongyang, North Korea, this building is 105 stories tall. The building is in the shape of a pyramid and consists of three "wings" tapering towards the top. It is considered the largest building in Pyongyang. The building was designed by Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers. The building is long-term construction - its construction began in 1987 and stopped in 1992. The construction was frozen until 2008. The building is currently undergoing external finishing work. It is still unknown when the hotel will open to visitors.
21.1st place. Torre Velasca Tower, Milan, Italy. The designer of this ridiculous-looking building is BBPR Architectural Partnership. The tower was built in the 1950s.
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