Ugly buildings

[arkiv]

This is in my city, México, D.F.

[arkiv]

Another construction in my big town.

[Lethevich]

I like the first one...

The buildings in my country which I HATE are new-build houses. They almost always look like this:



They are generally poorly made, they never use architects to design them, are visually and conceptually unchallenging to the point of insanity that we are supposedly living in a progressive society and would be downright fraudulent if their attempts to look "old" weren't so ham-fisted as to make them look ridiculous. They are over-priced, cramped, STUPID looking pieces of crap made by cynical conglomerates who claim that people want to live in housing like this, while not giving people any other choice, thus "proving" themselves correct, as nobody can live in alternate housing which does not exist. If a potential owner is tricked into this "dream" of "fake old looking" houses and "cosy" neighbourhoods with weird winding paths through the street deliberately intended to look "natural", and yet at the same time looking as unnatural as they can be, being made of cement or tar, then they are in for a disappointment. The nice field view over the other side of the street will be gone within a few years, as these estates spread like viruses, and once the paintwork fades a little and the bricks become less crisp due to rain and weathering, these houses look every inch the total mistake that 60s tower blocks were as well, and that these things are supposed to be the "cure" to.

[karlhenning]

Boston's City Hall, the most Nouveau Soviet building (and surrounding plaza) in town:

[Lethevich]

Boston's City Hall, the most Nouveau Soviet building (and surrounding plaza) in town:

Ahh, even the surrounding pavement is red... considering when it was built, I wonder how the designer got away with that

[Florestan]

It's Holland, right?

[dtwilbanks]

Minneapolis city hall as compained about in John Sandford's thrillers...

[MishaK]

This is in my city.

Hey, I actually think that's kinda interesting. Wonder what it's like inside. What is it?

[orbital]

Soon to come:


This is one ugly complex IMO

[karlhenning]

Minneapolis city hall as compained about in John Sandford's thrillers...

Hmm . . . Cambridge, Massachusetts City Hall:

[Lethevich]

It's Holland, right?

UK - as far as I am aware, Holland generally has a much nicer range of new builds (including the iconic "modern" square-glass-cube-meets-small-warehouse type things), unless I'm just seeing the grass as being greener on the other side...

[Florestan]

Minneapolis city hall as compained about in John Sandford's thrillers...

This one looks like the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. Very ambitious for a goddam city hall. 

[karlhenning]

Ahh, even the surrounding pavement is red... considering when it was built, I wonder how the designer got away with that

Well, red brick is a Boston building tradition.  The other day as I was walking past, I overheard a tour-guide tell a group that when City Hall was first built, the quip was that it was the crate that (nearby) Faneuil Hall was shipped in:

[Florestan]

UK - as far as I am aware, Holland generally has a much nicer range of new builds (including the iconic "modern" square-glass-cube-meets-small-warehouse type things), unless I'm just seeing the grass as being greener on the other side...

Well, I've been living in Holland for a while and it's just the same. At least the second picture could have been taken anywhere in The Netherlands. Ask Harry!

[dtwilbanks]

This one looks like the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. Very ambitious for a goddam city hall. 

"Today's city hall, located at 350 South Fifth Street, is an example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. The design is based upon Henry Hobson Richardson's Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Construction began in 1888 and officially ended in 1909. Cost was about $3,554,000, which works out to 28¢ per cubic foot ($10/m³). At the time of construction, the building claimed to have the world's largest clock, with faces four inches (100 mm) larger than those of the Great Clock in London (which houses the famous hour bell Big Ben). The tower housing the clock reaches 345 feet (105 m) in height, and was the tallest structure in the city until the 1920s when the Foshay Tower was built. A 15 bell carillon in the tower is played regularly, with noontime concerts provided to the public on holidays and during the summer. The building is built of Ortonville granite, with many stones greater than 20 tons in weight. The granite was originally only going to be used for the foundation of the building, with brick used for the upper portion. However, the public appreciated the appearance of the foundation so much that they lobbied for the entire building to be made of granite. This may be a reason for the significant cost overruns—it was originally expected to cost only $1.15 million."

[Florestan]

"Today's city hall, located at 350 South Fifth Street, is an example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. The design is based upon Henry Hobson Richardson's Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Construction began in 1888 and officially ended in 1909. Cost was about $3,554,000, which works out to 28¢ per cubic foot ($10/m³). At the time of construction, the building claimed to have the world's largest clock, with faces four inches (100 mm) larger than those of the Great Clock in London (which houses the famous hour bell Big Ben). The tower housing the clock reaches 345 feet (105 m) in height, and was the tallest structure in the city until the 1920s when the Foshay Tower was built. A 15 bell carillon in the tower is played regularly, with noontime concerts provided to the public on holidays and during the summer. The building is built of Ortonville granite, with many stones greater than 20 tons in weight. The granite was originally only going to be used for the foundation of the building, with brick used for the upper portion. However, the public appreciated the appearance of the foundation so much that they lobbied for the entire building to be made of granite. This may be a reason for the significant cost overruns—it was originally expected to cost only $1.15 million."

Hubris 

[karlhenning]

"Today's city hall, located at 350 South Fifth Street, is an example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. The design is based upon Henry Hobson Richardson's Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. . . ."

Ha! And you thought my mention of the Cambridge City Hall was gratuitous!

The Cambridge, Massachusetts City Hall is city hall for Cambridge, Massachusetts, located at 795 Massachusetts Avenue, and built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style.

As the article mentions, the architects for Cambridge City Hall were actually Longfellow, Alden, & Harlow.

Richardson himself designed the Woburn Library.

[Florestan]

The ugliest, most useless, most hubris-like building in the Western hemisphere:



The so-called People's House erected during Ceausescu's regime in Bucharest, Romania after levelling to the ground one of the most beautiful old quarters of the city.

It's now house to the Parliament but if you ask me they'd better had it blown up. 

[karlhenning]

". . . a reason for the significant cost overruns—it was originally expected to cost only $1.15 million."

Hah! You call that "cost overruns"?  Chicken feed.  Boston's Big Dig could teach them a thing or two about "cost overruns!"  

[dtwilbanks]

More on the Mpls. city hall from Wiki:

"Unlike most buildings in downtown Minneapolis, there aren't any skyways connecting the city hall to the rest of the city. Since any attempt at that would likely have been architecturally disastrous, tunnels were constructed instead."

Anyone else have "skyways"?