Bring Your Wrecking Balls

[molly bloom]

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/D/demolition/form.html

Channel 4 is behind a (semi-serious) poll to find ugly buildings to demolish.

It's asking people to nominate the structure that makes their life hellish, by being awful to work in, to look at, or that is appallingly constructed or unsympathetically situated.


In the spirit of widening up a U.K. poll to the world at large and internationalizing it, what building in the U.K. or in your own country (or a foreign country) would you wish to demolish ?


I have nominated the Home Office, not only for its association with complete Blunketts like the last Home Secretary, and several other dubious politicians of various hues, but also because it is a monstrous Stalinist neo-brutalist edifice, callously erected in the midst of several conservation areas, next to one of London's World Heritage sites, hard by a Royal Park, and among buildings of great architectural merit.


How this Orwellian junkheap was ever allowed to be constructed escapes me.

[Spiffor]

I nominate the most evil structure in the world, Mayence's city hall. As my girflriend would put it, it looks like the Devil had built it.

[Spiffor]

Another look, to show how this monster is ruining an otherwise perfectly OK scenery

[Bosh]

The high rise dorm in my uni is horrifically awful. Kind of "Stalinist on LSD" style its all hideous concrete made with as many angles as humanly possible. My roommate's tiny little bedroom had over ten angles in it. And none of the hallways are straight.

Next to it is the nearly as hideous rat warren of lowrise...

[Spiffor]

It's mightily beautiful compared to my uni...

Edit: oh, didn't read your comments on how it was inside. At least my uni is practical-minded

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Spiffor
I nominate the most evil structure in the world, Mayence's city hall. As my girflriend would put it, it looks like the Devil had built it.

That looks kind of cool on the outside, actually. But it does look evil.



You should see the Mississauga city hall. The enterior would be fitting for the third reich.

The stair well in it the most startling, i think. It's been a long time since I was in it, but if I am remebering it correctly, it is a large flight of stairs going straight up (6+ stories) with small landings on every floor that opens into a hallway. The stairs and the walls are made entirely of marble and the walls stretch up to a large glass roof overhead. Standing at the bottom of it and looking up it is the most daunting and oppresive view in the whole building, and the effect of the city servants crossing in and out of the stairwell as they walk down the corridors that open into it is almost surreal - you can see people coming out from one wall and disapearing into the other at every level of the stairwell, asthough they are signals shooting through the synaptic pathways of the building.

[alva]

t's asking people to nominate the structure that makes their life hellish, by being awful to work in, to look at, or that is appallingly constructed or unsympathetically situated.

I saw one last night, in the program about "spitting image". That surely must be a contender.


[Spiff]
Centre pompidou

Damn, hadn't noticed Spiff already posted.
Bleh, I'm gonna leave it in nonetheless.

[Spiffor]

Well, yeah, Centre Pompidou is probably the ugliest horror that has ever graced Paris. But despite its ugliness, at least it doesn't look as evil as Mayence's city hall. I mean, there are colours

[Urban Ranger]

There are a whole bunch of ugly nasties around here. This one is the first target

[Buck Birdseed]

Come on! Even if you troglodytes dislike all architecture after 1850 or whatever, you have to be joking if you think the buildings most worthy of demolition are the ones where a lot of aesthetic effort and architectural thought has been applied. Surely the hideous, mindless shopping mall blocks, ugly roadworks, railroad gashes in the landscape, cookie-cutter office blocks are infinately worse?

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Buck Birdseed
Come on! Even if you troglodytes dislike all architecture after 1850 or whatever, you have to be joking if you think the buildings most worthy of demolition are the ones where a lot of aesthetic effort and architectural thought has been applied. Surely the hideous, mindless shopping mall blocks, ugly roadworks, railroad gashes in the landscape, cookie-cutter office blocks are infinately worse?

Of course, but I just take it for granted that that's so bad it doesn't even bare consideration.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by General Ludd
You should see the Mississauga city hall. The enterior would be fitting for the third reich.

Just googled it. But it's paltry compared to what every Stalinian building should aspire to. Bucharest's palace!

(not: most of the historical city has been razed to make room for this bloated nichtmare, that also completely blocks the natural axes of communication in the city)

[Spiffor]

Eit

Pic2

[Spiffor]

Let's compare the average dull office block with Mayence's city hall:

Office block: with windows. City hall: Almost entirely covered with concrete.
Office block: no Black. City hall: with black
Office block: no pointy iron bars reminisching of a prisoner's cell. City hall: with.

Nah, I'm fairly confident in my choice to raze Mayence's city hall before any ordinary boring office block.

[DanS]

(not: most of the historical city has been razed to make room for this bloated nichtmare, that also completely blocks the natural axes of communication in the city)

Yikes! The thing is, it wouldn't look half bad if they didn't add on the extra stories.