# The Worst Building in the History of Mankind **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 1, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829 "2008-02-01T05:51:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/21 "2008-02-01T13:47:30Z")
The gherkin in London is fantastic! For me, the nastiest building I encounter with any regularity is County Hall in Aylesbury, a few miles from me. Aylsebury has little going for it anyway, but [even the nice bits](http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/5/51/MG_3722.jpg) get ruined by its Stalinist hideousness. Searching for that gives me a small selection of the [ugliest buildings in the UK](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/5094860.stm) from the BBC. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/22 "2008-02-01T14:01:27Z")
Yeah, I like the gherkin, but I wonder what we’ll think of it in fifty years. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/23 "2008-02-01T14:13:14Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Yeah, I like the gherkin, but I wonder what we’ll think of it in fifty years. [/QUOTE] It’ll look silly with all those little blue supports. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/24 "2008-02-01T14:25:22Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] [even the nice bits](http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/5/51/MG_3722.jpg) get ruined by its Stalinist hideousness. [/QUOTE] For some genuine Stalinist hideousness, have a peek at the Parliament building in Azerbaijan [http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/genik/the\_caucasus/1103737560/baku\_dom\_soviet2.jpg/tpod.html](http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/genik/the_caucasus/1103737560/baku_dom_soviet2.jpg/tpod.html) or Warsaw’s Palace of Culture [http://www.tunliweb.no/Bilder\_SM/\_album\_warsaw/a1.jpg](http://www.tunliweb.no/Bilder_SM/_album_warsaw/a1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/25 "2008-02-01T14:31:56Z")
U G L Y 2 aint got no alibi it’s ugly, uh uh, it’s ugly! [2 Columbus Circle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Columbus_Circle) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/26 "2008-02-01T14:44:46Z")
When I was the title of this thread, my first thought was, “Not unless it was built by Communists”. I was right! The Communists were seriously the worst architects…EVER. It’s not really a _building_, but check out this hideous monument sculpture thing in downtown Sofia. [I found this picture by doing a Google Image search of “ugly monument sofia”. It was the first picture that popped up.](http://www.crossroad.to/images/04/mission-trip/tour/sofia-crumbling-monument.jpg) It’s been falling apart for years now and no one can agree on what to do with it. Tear it down, rebuild it, who should pay for tearing it down or rebuilding it, etc. So it just sits there…being ugly. Right in the middle of downtown. ---
**Author:** ![chocolatefrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/41988e/32.png) [@chocolatefrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chocolatefrog)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/27 "2008-02-01T14:46:44Z")
[QUOTE=JoseB] The Agbar skyscraper in Barcelona (several images). What the heck is with suspiciously shaped buildings nowadays??? [General landscape where the Agbar tower stands](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Barcelona125.jpg) [/QUOTE] Holy cow, that looks like a giant dildo superimposed onto a normal landscape with some bad Photoshopping :eek:! It’s probably not the worst or ugliest building in the world, but I nominate the new Singaporean supreme court. It looks like a bad sci-fi set to me, and I loathe the damn thing everytime I see it. [By day](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Supreme_Court_Building%2C_Singapore.JPG) [By night](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Supreme_Court_HDR.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/28 "2008-02-01T14:49:32Z")
Howard Kunstler nominates a “winner” each month. I really enjoy his picks, as bad as they are. [eyesore of the month](http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore.html) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/29 "2008-02-01T14:53:32Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I present, for your consideration, the now-demolished [Tricorn Centre](http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/gallery/450/bb9/bb96_10635.jpg) in Portsmouth - voted the ugliest building in Britain in more than one poll, IIRC. [/QUOTE] If you look carefully, you can see Logan 6 chasing a runner. As for the OP, it could have been a cool building if they had just made it out of something other than concrete. The same could be said about many of the buildings shown here. Are communist architects forbidden to use color in their designs? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/30 "2008-02-01T15:07:22Z")
[QUOTE=JoseB] [The Agbar tower by night](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Barcelona546.jpg) [/quote] Great. Scott. What was that inside meme here about an ice-blue jelly dong? This thing looks … Ugh. No, I can’t even. ---
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/31 "2008-02-01T15:12:26Z")
There was a running plot on the show “How I Met Your Mother” about an architect designing a building that was completely and obviously phallic, yet no one would say anything against it. I thought it was funny, but it’s even funnier to see that it was based in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/32 "2008-02-01T16:04:41Z")
[QUOTE=Tapioca Dextrin] For some genuine Stalinist hideousness, have a peek at the Parliament building in Azerbaijan [http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/genik/the\_caucasus/1103737560/baku\_dom\_soviet2.jpg/tpod.html](http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/genik/the_caucasus/1103737560/baku_dom_soviet2.jpg/tpod.html) or Warsaw’s Palace of Culture [http://www.tunliweb.no/Bilder\_SM/\_album\_warsaw/a1.jpg](http://www.tunliweb.no/Bilder_SM/_album_warsaw/a1.jpg) [/QUOTE] You know, maybe I’m just a cheerful and naive sort, but those don’t look so bad to me. Maybe a little bland, but none of the obvious Soviet brutalism of some of the other examples. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/33 "2008-02-01T16:05:48Z")
Somehow I knew it was going to involve North Korea when I saw the thread title… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/34 "2008-02-01T16:21:35Z")
Isn’t the Warsaw building a copy of [Moscow State University](http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2910564/2/istockphoto_2910564_lomonosov_moscow_state_university_sunset_front.jpg)? I kinda like both of them. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/35 "2008-02-01T16:21:44Z")
[QUOTE=Ro Carter] The Pyongyang Hotel reminds me of the headquarters for an evil government/dictator, or a mad scientist’s lair before it blasts into space. Either way, not giving off friendly, welcoming vibes, at least IMHO. [/QUOTE] I give you [Mississauga City Hall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississauga_Civic_Centre). Everyone I’ve been with upon seeing it for the first time has said, “What’s the guard tower?” Notice also the balcony on the south side where the dictator can harangue the crowd. On the other hand, I understand the interior is quite nice, especially the council chamber (located in the cylindrical part that is supposed to recall a farmer’s silo, but actually looks like the vacuum containment building at the Pickering nuclear power plant). Oh, and the clock is next to unreadable. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/36 "2008-02-01T16:22:14Z")
[QUOTE=drm] A while back The Ontario Academy of Art and Design (OCAD) built [this](http://www.hughpearman.com/illustrations5/toronto%20OCAD1b.jpg) monstrosity in Downtown Toronto. [Another angle](http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.planthub.com/attachments/pph/OCAD%2520bldg%25202.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.planthub.com/pph_project_detail.asp%3Fc%3D18&h=397&w=627&sz=254&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=XVZa6E_6x1mOHM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=136&prev=/images%3Fq%3DOCAD%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN) I cringe every time I look at the damn thing. [/QUOTE] But but but… I like it. _sniff_ If we’re going to mock bad Toronto architecture, I’d posit that the new wing to the Royal Ontario Museum is worse than OCAD x 10. I mean, it’s [aluminum siding](http://chau84.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/img_1540.jpg) gone bad! I also put forth [Robarts Library](http://www.raisethehammer.org/images/brutalism_01.jpg), the only building that can be mistaken for a concrete turkey, brutalist fortress and misshappen maple leaf depending on viewing angle. And that’s just to start… lest we forget, we’re about to be blessed with yet another [Liebeskind monstrosity](http://archrecord.construction.com/news/OnTheBoards/images/0706Hummingbird1_lg.jpg) on Front St. Ugliest. Condos. EVOR. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/37 "2008-02-01T16:30:28Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] And that’s just to start… lest we forget, we’re about to be blessed with yet another [Liebeskind monstrosity](http://archrecord.construction.com/news/OnTheBoards/images/0706Hummingbird1_lg.jpg) on Front St. Ugliest. Condos. EVOR. [/QUOTE] I like that one. But only if, as I suspect, it cantilevers up out of the ground so that a rocket can be launched from underneath it. Please confirm that this is the case. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/38 "2008-02-01T16:32:26Z")
[QUOTE=drm] A while back The Ontario Academy of Art and Design (OCAD) built [this](http://www.hughpearman.com/illustrations5/toronto%20OCAD1b.jpg) monstrosity in Downtown Toronto. [Another angle](http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.planthub.com/attachments/pph/OCAD%2520bldg%25202.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.planthub.com/pph_project_detail.asp%3Fc%3D18&h=397&w=627&sz=254&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=XVZa6E_6x1mOHM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=136&prev=/images%3Fq%3DOCAD%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN) I cringe every time I look at the damn thing. [/QUOTE] If you don’t like the Tabletop, you’re going to loathe [the L Tower](http://www.urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?t=682&page=30) (scroll down a bit). Site preparation has just begun. (Me, I like Modernist. I like the Tabletop. I liked the design for the Royal Ontario Museum extension, though the execution has disappointed me. I like the Ministry of Roads building, though it looks like it is _not_ ageing well. But I’m not certain about the L Tower.) ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/39 "2008-02-01T16:37:45Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] But but but… I like it. _sniff_ If we’re going to mock bad Toronto architecture, I’d posit that the new wing to the Royal Ontario Museum is worse than OCAD x 10. I mean, it’s [aluminum siding](http://chau84.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/img_1540.jpg) gone bad! [/QUOTE] It’s pretty bad, yeah. Have you ever been inside it? There is more wasted space in that building than any building I’ve ever been inside. I still give OCAD the win though, I did have to look at it every damn day for about a year though, so maybe I’m a little sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/40 "2008-02-01T16:39:12Z")
I don’t get it. Why do people dislike modern architecture? 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829.md?page=3)