# World's Ugliest Buildings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830 "2009-10-14T20:36:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/61 "2009-10-16T07:58:57Z")
The first time we drove past the Frank Gehry Experience Music Project building in Seattle, my six-year-old very earnestly said, “Mom, it kind of looks like trash.” ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/62 "2009-10-16T08:00:55Z")
Jeze. Looking at these I’ve concluded my alma mater had some pretty ugly ones. [The Old Library](http://www.campusmap.wsu.edu/building-list/images/holland.jpg) [A Food Science Building](http://www.bsyse.wsu.edu/core/research/centers/images/cnpf-fshn.jpg) They really put some thought into[the dorms.](http://livingat.wsu.edu/hdrl/images/ResHalls/stephenson.jpg) We should get cred for [Thompson Hall](http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles54662.jpg) though. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2009, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/63 "2009-10-16T09:26:57Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > I like most of the buildings on the Texas Tech campus, but somehow, the ugliest one happens to be the [Architecture building](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_HMn4aILG_vs/RqsF8bzc-rI/AAAAAAAAAc8/7KfT0wxXqSo/P8120018.JPG). Looks like a high-rise prison. The funniest part is: look at the very top section of wall. See the bit that’s a little lighter than the rest, doesn’t quite match? Word is that that part of the building collapsed sometime in the 1970s. Yep, the only building on campus that ever suffered a partial collapse was the architecture building. What’s surprising about that? It’s school of architecture, not the school of engineering. Architects couldn’t put one brick atop another without having a civil engineer around to do the math. Architects know how to design buildings, not how to build them. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Medlo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hi\_Medlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Medlo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/64 "2009-10-16T12:36:27Z")
My first exposure to the Longaberger building was as a sleepy passenger late at night. I thought I was dreaming! I think it’s cute and whimsical. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/65 "2009-10-16T12:49:30Z")
> [@MichaelQReilly](#): > > I always tough London’s ugliest building was the [Lloyds of London](http://content.lib.washington.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/buildings&CISOPTR=456) building. Whoever though an office building that looks like an oil refinery was a good idea should be taken out in an alley and shot. I can see the Lloyd’s Building from my office. I think it’s really rather beautiful from [certain angles](http://www.sisinspain.com/images/lloyds3_sm.jpg). Give me shiny steel over stained grey concrete any day. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/66 "2009-10-16T13:46:06Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > What’s surprising about that? It’s school of architecture, not the school of engineering. Architects couldn’t put one brick atop another without having a civil engineer around to do the math. > > Architects know how to design buildings, not how to build them. heh. Somehow this reminded me of a saying we used to like when I was an EE major: “Electrical engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.” ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/67 "2009-10-16T14:39:13Z")
I hate my school’s architecture building as well. I should be in it right now (I’m taking an urban planning class this semester, and the UP department is located in the architecture building) but I have to finish up a paper for my afternoon class and am playing hookey. Anyway, it is drab and boring and ugly. It has all the charm of a warehouse, except for sometimes they hang student art on the walls, which is pretty cool. It’s old and there aren’t enough plugs, and the ones there are are inconveniently located. (I’m spoiled because my department’s building was finished in 2006 and is redolent with outlets.) It’s _dark_ and gloomy. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/68 "2009-10-16T15:04:37Z")
I found all those buildings very interesting looking and many of them quite beautiful. If you want ugly, you need to see SUNY Albany’s campus. This campus was designed for Arizona. It is made of white cement and all the buildings are half buried in the ground. Which may be good for keeping cool in the desert but totally unsuited for upstate NY. Dingy, grey, squat, waterstained monstrosities. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/69 "2009-10-16T15:05:44Z")
At the University of Oklahoma, our library was actually attractive. But then, our Physical Sciences building was affectionately known as [the Blender.](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/192/507079031_8cba567a8e.jpg?v=0) ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/70 "2009-10-16T16:06:29Z")
Speaking of ugly libraries, I’ve gone to two universities and both their libraries were ugly: University of Calgary McKimmie Library [http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/592209070/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/592209070/) Carleton University Maxwell MacOdrum Library (not a great photo) [http://www2.carleton.ca/campus/campus-buildings/macodrum-library/](http://www2.carleton.ca/campus/campus-buildings/macodrum-library/) I guess the lack of windows mentiioned upthread factor in. They’re generally just walls with teeny windows. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/71 "2009-10-16T16:40:21Z")
[QUOTE=Nars Glinley] …our Physical Sciences building was affectionately known as [the Blender.](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/192/507079031_8cba567a8e.jpg?v=0) [/QUOTE] Looks like someone stuck a decent enough building on top of a datacenter. What happens in all of that windowless space? ---
**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:** [October 16, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/72 "2009-10-16T17:28:29Z")
[A relevant comic.](http://www.viruscomix.com/page450.html) ---
**Author:** ![ProfessorX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@ProfessorX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProfessorX)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/73 "2009-10-16T17:48:32Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Looks like someone stuck a decent enough building on top of a datacenter. What happens in all of that windowless space? Looks more like a prison on top of a small apartment building. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/74 "2009-10-16T17:58:02Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Looks like someone stuck a decent enough building on top of a datacenter. What happens in all of that windowless space? I think it was office space but I haven’t been there in 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/75 "2012-11-04T10:10:09Z")
Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, there are parts of New York and New Jersey that look like [this eyesore](http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/worlds-strangest-buildings/5). ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/76 "2012-11-04T12:58:58Z")
I always believed that the Boston City Hall looked like an old air conditioner, thrown out in the trash. It is dark inside, the roof leaks, the windows leak, and it is drafty and dank. The Gehry abortion at MIT is in a class of its own-the windows leak, the interior is 80% wasted space, and MIT is actually suing Gehry (talk about locking the barn door after the horse is stolen). It is hard to imagine a building so expensive that fails in its most basic mission-and concrete box would be better. The Harvard Business School (student housing) looks like a high rise prison. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/77 "2012-11-04T14:49:29Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > In this case it is the combination of factors - extreme ugliness of building, a totally confusing layout, and no windows - so no way to orient yourself - that makes Robarts the experience it is. > > Though I suppose that making stuff hard to find also preserves books from the wear and tear of students handling them. 😃 They don’t call it Brutalism for nothing. The closet sized offices that ring each floor have windows – they make for nice reading compartments, until you compare that experience to the Hart House library, with windowed alcoves and comfy overstuffed chairs. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/78 "2012-11-04T16:46:44Z")
Huh- I didn’t realize the Ryugyong Hotel was being completed. I thought it was deemed structurally unsound. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/79 "2012-11-04T16:52:59Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I think a lot of those buildings are pretty spiffy. And only ONE was in Eastern Europe? That’s how I know this list is bullshit. Eastern Europe is chock full of buildings a hundred times uglier than anything on this list. Communists were _shitty_ architects. Yeah, that neo-gothic style is prevalent in Moscow and other former communist countries, and it’s hideous. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830/80 "2012-11-04T16:58:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Yeah, that neo-gothic style is prevalent in Moscow and other former communist countries, and it’s hideous. Well, somehow I missed this thread three years ago. Snookered again. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-ugliest-buildings/513830.md?page=5)