# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/161 "2008-02-13T18:29:43Z")
[QUOTE=Tenar] I work near [THIS](http://www.nbm.org/Exhibits/past/2001/NY.html) hideous piece of crap. Passers by have been known to mistake it for a prison. It is, in fact, a courthouse and federal office building. [/QUOTE] Ohhhhh yes. For contrast purposes, here are [Montreal’s former Palais de Justice](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ancien_palais_de_justice_%28Montr%C3%A9al%29.JPG) and [current Court of Appeals.](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Cour_d'appel_du_Qu%C3%A9bec.JPG) Dominant message: the majesty and dignity of the rule of law. [Current Palais de Justice](http://canada.archiseek.com/quebec/montreal/palaisdejustice_lge.html), immediately adjacent to both of the above. Dominant message: RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/162 "2008-02-13T19:06:36Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Yeah, I think this does win. My God this is bad. > **[News and Politics - Breaking News](https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/?kw=ist)** > > Get the latest on news and politics from the editors at Esquire. [/QUOTE] I think you’re being a little hard on the hotel here. All it needs is the right topper: [http://www.bondagerotica.com/extras/ryugyong-hotel-topper.jpg](http://www.bondagerotica.com/extras/ryugyong-hotel-topper.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/163 "2008-02-13T20:45:12Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] That’s Will Alsop, I think. You should see the place he’s doing for Filmport down on the East Bayfront. Looks like a [breaking red wave with a tumour](http://chau84.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/will-alsop-please-stop-designing-homes/) (scroll down–the third and fourth pic). Actually, I think I could get used to it. [/QUOTE] These buildings look like they were built out of Legos (with Tinker Toys for stilts). ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/164 "2008-02-14T01:52:40Z")
We went to war over this very same topic in Great Debates just a month or so ago. [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=451472/) is the link. I made my udder revulsion for 98% of modern architecture very clear in that thread. Many have beat me to it, but Boston City Hall and its plaza is really an abomination. Its continuing existence is an affront to God himself. 😛 Somehow [this](http://www.bambinomusical.com/Scollay/SS1940s.JPG) handsome and functional mixed used neighborhood was turned into [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Government_Center_Boston_vista.jpg) wasteland. How people collectively ever thought this kind of stuff was a good idea boggles my mind. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/165 "2008-02-14T15:16:44Z")
I did want to say that, outside of the outlandish size, I didn’t particularly dislike the Stalinish university-type buildings. On a more human, scale, they’d make a nice skyscraper thing. But good lord, that’s outlandishly sized. And it’s not a good fit for any kind of educational affair. This is [Nintendo HQ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nintendo_office.jpg). I don’t even now what to say. It looks like a prison, or maybe some cubist painter’s nightmares. I can’t imagine a lesss inviting, interesting building outside the Iron Curtain. Here is a picure of the [Stalinallee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Karl-Marx-Allee_Block_C_Nord_Berlin_April_2006_060.jpg), now called the Karl-Marx-Allee. Believe it or not, this is a much improved version of the original. The first form of it was substantially more bland and imposing. Oh yeah, that was just one building of it. The thing is an entire huge city road, stretching almost 2 miles, and every inch is like that. It’s also hugely far across (90 meters wide!); it’s like standing in a canyon. What makes matters worse is that you are in fact standing in an artificial canyon… on the steppe. Berlin’s landscape is nice and wide open… with the prairie breezes… In short, the place is a bloody _wind tunnel_. You’re out there with the wind shooting through like a hurricane, often making it rather chill, and certainly noisy and unfriendly. There’s nowehere for the wind to go and no cover any of the way down. Basically, the whole thing was miserable back in the day and it’s still not particularly nice. Do yourself a favor and go back to the Alexanderplatx or Potsdamer Platz. Speaking of which, the [Potsadamer Platz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdamer_Platz) is a ridiculously garish affair. It’s actually kinda nice in there, with a couple of restaurants and things, but it’s still a little odd. The buildings kinda cage you in, and the stuff around there is semi-random, like they just reachd into a hat and picked out names for whatever would go there. Still, it’s a good area overall and there’s a lot to do near there. ---
**Author:** ![Nuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@Nuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuke)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/166 "2008-02-14T20:45:11Z")
Museo de Nacion in Lima Peru [Museo de Nacion](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/LimaMuseoNacion.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829/169 "2019-01-23T03:40:22Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > This is [Nintendo HQ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nintendo_office.jpg). I don’t even now what to say. It looks like a prison, or maybe some cubist painter’s nightmares. I can’t imagine a lesss inviting, interesting building outside the Iron Curtain… That’s just from one angle. From the front entrance it’s a normal office building with a car-park out front and glass-walled first floor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-building-in-the-history-of-mankind/435829.md?page=8)