# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/61 "2008-02-01T20:26:59Z")
[QUOTE=JoseB] I don’t know if these would qualify, but… 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] I think every city would benefit from having it’s own big throbbing mult-story neon vibrator! C’mon, where’s your sense of humor? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/62 "2008-02-01T20:32:02Z")
[QUOTE=JoseB] And, back to weird buildings… Let us not forget the Cube Houses from Rotterdam: > **[File:Rotterdam Cube House.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rotterdam_Cube_House.jpg)** > > Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. > You cannot overwrite this file. Yep. They are what their name indicates: Cubic structures standing on a vertex, on top of pillars, and you live inside. I’ve seen them from close up. Absolutely hideous. Just my 2 eurocent! JoseB [/QUOTE] Ok, seriously–WTF? How do those work? How do you not have wasted space, tilted walls and windows that point at the ground? How do you have a level floor that doesn’t have windows that slant away from the plane of the floor? Dammit, that picture made my head hurt trying to figure it out… ---
**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, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/63 "2008-02-01T20:37:22Z")
[QUOTE=JoseB] Let us not forget the Cube Houses from Rotterdam: > **[File:Rotterdam Cube House.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rotterdam_Cube_House.jpg)** > > Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. > You cannot overwrite this file. Yep. They are what their name indicates: Cubic structures standing on a vertex, on top of pillars, and you live inside. [/QUOTE] Um… [we have one of those, too](http://boldts.net/album/CubeHouse.shtml). It’s in really bad shape, and I’m not certain that it was ever actually finished. ---
**Author:** ![Ro\_Carter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Ro\_Carter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ro_Carter)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/64 "2008-02-01T20:46:27Z")
Ah, I just remembered. My own nomination: [the Zumberge Library](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/James_H_Zumberge_Library.JPG/800px-James_H_Zumberge_Library.JPG) . It’s ugly, for a start, but the inside is completely disorienting as well. The staircase is in the exact center of the building, with no natural light at all (those stairs are _dangerous_ . Something about the way they were built makes them prime territory for sprained ankles and falling down entire flights). Now, after turning around several times while climbing the stairs, you emerge onto a floor after picking one of two sets of doors that look completely identical, but face opposing directions. The best way to figure out which way you are facing is to go find one of the few windows and look out it. I adore libraries, but I started avoiding that one really quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/65 "2008-02-01T20:59:57Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I am loving the new wing to the Royal Ontario Museum. I think it’s fantastic! [/QUOTE] I actually like the new ROM as well. My girlfriend and I aren’t fond of the skin though. We were hoping the “aluminum siding” was NOT going to be the final finish. Typically, I’m not fond of Libeskind because so much of his work imposes itself on the site (compared to say, Zaha Hadid who adopts the inherent movement of a space. Ever her crazy shit has exquisite lines of movement.) I don’t like the “Boot”. And as for that OCAD checkered box on pick-up sticks. You’d just die if you saw how it was _supposed_ to be. In homage to CMYK, four of the sides were going to be those solid colours. The bottom was going to be solid magenta! The neighbouring business decided to compete with the garishness by painting their building [thusly.](http://www.archiseek.com/content/attachment.php?attachmentid=897&stc=1&d=1121917350) ---
**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, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/66 "2008-02-01T21:02:25Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] The neighbouring business decided to compete with the garishness by painting their building [thusly.](http://www.archiseek.com/content/attachment.php?attachmentid=897&stc=1&d=1121917350) [/QUOTE] That’s not just any business; that’s the OCAD art supplies store. It’s connected. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/67 "2008-02-01T21:17:50Z")
[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] Obviously someone dropped the model and broke it, and during construction noone realized it wasn’t really supposed to look like that . . . ---
**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, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/68 "2008-02-01T21:24:09Z")
[QUOTE=Neidhart] Obviously someone dropped the model and broke it, and during construction noone realized it wasn’t really supposed to look like that . . . [/QUOTE] I watched it being built. The steel framework is like a 3-D puzzle, all angles and intersections. The steel fabricators said that it was like nothing they’d ever done before. I’m just very, very disappointed in the cladding. (I’ve only been inside once, briefly. I remember the scuffs on the white walls.) ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/69 "2008-02-01T21:39:14Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] Not all bad buildings are bad on the outside. The [Humanities building](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://photos.news.wisc.edu/photos/Humanities_Building94_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://photos.news.wisc.edu/view.php%3Fid%3D187&h=400&w=600&sz=43&hl=en&start=1&sig2=1mTZGgh5lGL2FqWsBJ5dQQ&um=1&tbnid=FKskL3rRSioBfM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&ei=43OjR7vhB5jgigH488mtAQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3DUniversity%2Bof%2BWisconsin%2BHUmanities%2Bbuilding%253D%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGIH_enUS233US233%26sa%3DG) at the University of Wisconsin, looks somewhat interesting on the outside. On the inside it is a mess of corriders and stariwells and offices that require a class in orienteerring to find where you are going most of the time. [/QUOTE] Oh the humanity! ---
**Author:** ![Niemand\_Noone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Niemand\_Noone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niemand_Noone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/70 "2008-02-01T21:43:22Z")
[QUOTE=SmartAleq] Ok, seriously–WTF? How do those work? How do you not have wasted space, tilted walls and windows that point at the ground? How do you have a level floor that doesn’t have windows that slant away from the plane of the floor? Dammit, that picture made my head hurt trying to figure it out… [/QUOTE] Obviously, this is where the Joker and the Penguin had their hideouts in the 1960s… ---
**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, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/71 "2008-02-01T21:48:42Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] Context does matter. Ouch. Holy fuck, does that ever fail to fit in with the neighborhood. [/QUOTE] Actually, it does. Look westward along the south side of Bloor from near the Winners store. You’ve got:[ul][_][The Colonnade](http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=136148), a 1960’s-style apartment/retail complex notable for its restrained Modernist design[_]An anonymous store[_]The old Club Monaco store on the corner of Queens Park, which was built as the U of T [Household Science Building](http://www.newsandevents.utoronto.ca/bios/02/historical_images/householdsci.jpg) before the First World War[_]The original ROM building on the other side of Queens Park [_]The Crystal (its actual name is the Lee-Chin Crystal)[_]The [Royal Conservatory of Music](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/RoyalConservatoryofMusic.JPG), with its heritage and Modern sections[_]Varsity Stadium[_]The old U of T Observatory building in its dark brick[_]The new Modernist residence building at the corner of St George[_]The Bata Shoe Museum on the other corner of St George[/ul]The south side of Bloor Street is a mixture of Victorian and Modern architecture that actually works quite well. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/72 "2008-02-01T21:51:35Z")
What is it with modern architects? Do they take classes in ugly? Some of these people need to be put on War Crimes lists for designing what are Crimes Against Humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Niemand\_Noone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Niemand\_Noone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niemand_Noone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/73 "2008-02-01T21:52:34Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Okay, that’s the official nickname of the L Tower now: the Boot. I’m going to start using it on the UrbanToronto formums. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I went over to that link that pictured that building – yeeesh, I shudder again. I had forgotten about that monstrosity downtown. Seems, tho’, that they generally love that building on that forum. Me? “If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on the O’Keefe Centre - forever.” And as for the ROM – sorry, it looks to me like a greenhouse built by Bizarro #1. And while I often enjoy contrast, to me it really doesn’t work with the old ROM. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/74 "2008-02-01T21:54:24Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] What is it with modern architects? Do they take classes in ugly? Some of these people need to be put on War Crimes lists for designing what are Crimes Against Humanity. [/QUOTE] Prince Charles? Is that you? ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/75 "2008-02-01T21:55:12Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] _ **OM NOM NOM NOM** _ [/QUOTE] I know! It looks like some space monster devouring a lovely old building! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Niemand\_Noone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Niemand\_Noone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niemand_Noone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/76 "2008-02-01T21:58:42Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] I give you [Mississauga City Hall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississauga_Civic_Centre). … Notice also the balcony on the south side where the dictator can harangue the crowd. [/QUOTE] Hazel harangues? The architect here looks like he also designs contemporary strip malls. Altho’ it could be worse – the dreaded concrete and glass box. I swear, do you really need an _architect_ to design these? “Ummm…wall here, here, here, and, uhhh, maybe here? Oh, and a roof would be good.” ---
**Author:** ![MacGyverInSeattle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@MacGyverInSeattle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacGyverInSeattle)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/77 "2008-02-01T22:10:26Z")
This thread would not be complete with out the [Experience Music Project](http://www.johnschiller.com/2000roadtrip/Images/DSCN0372.JPG) in Seattle. From another [angle](http://www.sswnews.com/images/building/projects_seattle.jpg) . ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/78 "2008-02-01T22:32:58Z")
[While this looks like scrapped Saturn 5 rocket parts,](http://regmedia.co.uk/2005/07/12/gehry.jpg) it is in fact the Disney Building in Los Angeles. [Another view.](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://lh3.google.com/_qK1MyQoyL5E/RvsqrIXDd5I/AAAAAAAAAGk/ZTK44mYTceM/s800/DSCN5055.JPG&imgrefurl=http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/f9JpMQsyVOLBwbmAUhBVog&h=600&w=800&sz=72&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=fGyQXKH_AxpPxM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2B%2522disney%2Bbuilding%2522%26as_st%3Dy%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG) ---
**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:** [February 1, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/79 "2008-02-01T22:48:41Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] 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)? [/QUOTE] Which, in turn, is a copy of the [New York Municipal Building](http://www.greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/municipa.html), which Joseph Stalin once saw while visiting the U.S., fell in love with and eventually decided would be the model for Soviet state architecture. True story! Incidentally, [this](http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=53400) is the most phallic tower in the world. Knowing what I know about the architect, it was intended that way. ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/80 "2008-02-01T23:10:17Z")
[QUOTE=TroubleAgain] I know! It looks like some space monster devouring a lovely old building! :eek: [/QUOTE] My first impression on seeing that thing is the Citadel out of Half Life 2…except far less stylish. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829.md?page=5)