# Stupidest building design you've experienced **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287 "2023-06-10T13:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/61 "2023-06-26T02:51:58Z")
Unless you can provide a cite, I’m thinking you fell for one of the most common collegiate urban legends. _Many_ universities have libraries that were supposed to have been designed without accounting for the weight of the books. Edited to add, [here](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sinking-library/) is a cite from Snopes that it’s just an urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/62 "2023-06-26T21:38:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s my current apartment. It’s right next to the tracks, and the first time a train went by, I thought it was going through the living room. This weekend I drove by some new two-story townhouses that were conveniently situated immediately adjacent to a railway overpass over a busy arterial road. I might keep the windows closed if I lived there. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/63 "2023-06-27T15:58:12Z")
And that’s not even the first high-rise that [concentrates sunlight](https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/las-vegas-hotel-pool-sunlight-swimming-tourists/story?id=11739234) designed by the [same architect](https://gizmodo.com/death-ray-architect-speaks-out-about-his-car-melting-1265000912). He absolved himself of responsibility, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/64 "2023-06-27T22:31:11Z")
Yeah, I heard that about the library at Waterloo when I went there: they forgot about the weight of the books and it’s sinking into the ground and that’s why there’s a moat around it! ---
**Author:** ![Glassbeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9f8e36/32.png) [@Glassbeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassbeach)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/65 "2023-07-01T17:47:47Z")
My local town library, which opened in 1974 was designed to be mostly windowless apart from a few windows on the ground floor either side of the main front entrance and one window on the top floor at the opposite side of the building . This was apparently intended to protect the books from damage by sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/66 "2023-08-08T12:05:59Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > The library at the Storrs campus of the University of Connecticut was very pretty when build. There were four wings cantilevered out over the ground. I don’t recall how many stories. But apparently someone forgot either that libraries have books or that shelves of books are heavy. The wings immediately began sagging and cracks opened up that turned into leaks. Whole portions of the building had to be closed off. > > I **think** it’s been fixed by now, let me guess - they moved into e-books to solve the problem ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/67 "2023-08-08T12:48:47Z")
Sorry, didn’t read the entire thread, but here in Chicago, [the Thompson Center](https://www.stirworld.com/think-columns-review-of-thompson-center-in-chicago-the-building-facing-demolition-threat#:~:text=Most%20controversially%2C%20large%20expanses%20of,on%20the%20interior%20wall%20panels) was pretty horrendous. Looked cool, but leaked, overheated, was noisy… ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/68 "2023-08-09T05:57:13Z")
The chemistry department building at UNC was somewhat notorious for having evolved, rather than being designed. I only ever had one class there, but people who had many more told me they often couldn’t get there from here - as in, had to go outdoors. I think it’s since been torn down. Not a “whole building” design, but a medical office building near us has sensor-operated doors to enter the building - but all the office suites have heavy spring-loaded doors, which require you to be nimble and able-bodied. They are essentially impossible to operate if you are, say, on crutches or using a sling, as we were reminded a few years back and frequently visiting orthopedists. The fashion for sunken living rooms etc. is one that needs to be gotten rid of. Our main floor has 2 steps down to the family room. We can manage that… but there’ve been times where we could not do so, and it was very tough for visiting parents… and makes something like a Roomba completely useless. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/69 "2023-08-09T17:50:56Z")
While we’re at it with college building urban myths, how many schools have the chemistry building that was carefully designed so that if it ever exploded, it would implode, with no debris ending up more than 3’ from the footprint of the building? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/70 "2023-08-09T18:25:19Z")
The staircase at our office, which tips you out into a deathtrap from which you cannot exit the building, as the external fire doors do not open. Nor can you go back the way you came, without a passcard. Labelled as a fire escape route, too. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/71 "2023-08-09T18:41:10Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > The staircase at our office, which tips you out into a deathtrap from which you cannot exit the building, **as the external fire doors do not open** That sounds like you need to report it to the fire department - will probably mean fines for the building owner, as well as a few re-inspections. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/72 "2023-08-09T19:01:25Z")
It might be designed so that the doors (both the external fire doors and the regular staircase) do open in the event of a fire. You’d need some awfully reliable failsafes on those, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/73 "2023-08-09T19:24:10Z")
I never did see it spring open when the alarms went off (which they did, fairly frequently). At least one of the staircases has been changed recently, after I pointed this out. Not sure about the other one - I can’t remember the last time I went down it, it doesn’t lead anywhere very useful. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/74 "2023-08-09T20:51:43Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > When they moved out, they just tossed the couch off the balcony rather than try to get it back out the front door. That’s at least better than the previous owners of a house I purchased decades ago. They couldn’t get the couch out of a room in the basement…so they just left it. When I complained that I didn’t want the undesirable couch, as I had other plans for that room, they came back with a chainsaw, cut it up and hauled it away. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/75 "2023-08-10T03:10:32Z")
Boy, I hope you have a photo of it! ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/76 "2023-08-10T03:22:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Unless you can provide a cite, I’m thinking you fell for one of the most common collegiate urban legends. _Many_ universities have libraries that were supposed to have been designed without accounting for the weight of the books. Yep. I have been involved in the design of buildings from the very start. After doing a broad sketch of the floor plan the design is turned over to the structural engineers. The _ **very first step** _ is to figure out the floor loading. From that you design the floor panels. Then the floor joists. Then the cross beams, then the main beams, etc. Then all the beam loads connect to the columns and snow and wind loads are considered. Now you have the loads at the bottom of each column. Using the allowable soil loads from the soil survey you can size the footers. It’s all iterative after that. Once th pie-in-the-sky- design team sees how expensive those 40’ clear span rooms are going to be, they go back and start adding more columns. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/77 "2023-08-10T06:30:18Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Yep. I have been involved in the design of buildings from the very start. After doing a broad sketch of the floor plan the design is turned over to the structural engineers. The _ **very first step** _ is to figure out the floor loading. From that you design the floor panels. Then the floor joists. Then the cross beams, then the main beams, etc. Then all the beam loads connect to the columns and snow and wind loads are considered. My father-in-law was a structural engineer, and he told me once that that was his favorite part of the job - sitting down with an architect over a sketch and figuring out together what can and can’t be done. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/78 "2023-08-10T07:24:53Z")
I once was in an apartment where apparently you could only leave the room if you had a key. Basically you would unlock the front door, go inside, put the key into the door on the interior side now to lock it and then close the door. You could not lock the door unless you locked it from the inside with the key, nor could you unlock it from the inside unless you had the key. You could remove the key from inside once the door was locked but you better know where it was when you wanted to unlock the door to leave. It was the weirdest system ever. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/79 "2023-08-10T07:30:41Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Yep. I have been involved in the design of buildings from the very start. After doing a broad sketch of the floor plan the design is turned over to the structural engineers. The _ **very first step** _ is to figure out the floor loading. From that you design the floor panels. Then the floor joists. Then the cross beams, then the main beams, etc. Then all the beam loads connect to the columns and snow and wind loads are considered. Good post. One of the considerations I had when buying the house I currently live in, was “Where is the main beam?” Why did I want to know? Because I have a wonderful, beautiful, antique, upright piano that I love to play. It weighs a lot. Putting it against a load-bearing wall on the main beam means that it is fully supported, and is unlikely to put my floor out of plumb, or worse, crash through to the basement. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287/80 "2023-08-10T12:53:09Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Good post. I see what you did there 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-building-design-youve-experienced/985287.md?page=5)