The ugliest building in the world

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Kontiki
Oerdin, as a point of reference, post a pic of a newer building you think does look good.

OK, 30 St Mary Axe in London didn't break ground on materials (same steel and glass structure) but they did create a unique shape which flowed together and didn't look disjointed (like the Seattle Public Library does). They tried to off set the inherent colorlessness of the glass & steel structure by using different colored glass and designing it so that it is pleasing and draws your eye upwards to look at the rest of the tower.



The newly redone German Reichstagg Building with its crystal dome is also a great update on a classic structure. Most of the 19th Century details are still there but the old damaged coppola has been replaced by a glass dome letting in a great deal of light into the old building and there is a creative use of lighting at night in order to make it an attractive addition to the Berline night sky. I like how the clear dome signifies the transparency of the government so we have a good play between architecture and symbolism.

[MosesPresley]

Originally posted by Oerdin
the new central library in Seattle.

Inside the library.

"The gigantic signage is necessary because otherwise library patrons might think they had mistakenly stumbled into the receiving department of a US Army ordnance installation or the basement of a commercial laundry." - Kunstler



Rem Koolhaus, the architect of the building, named this the "living room."

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Oerdin
It's the same crap materials and construction methods shaped like a bunch of trapizoids instead of a square box.

We have them glass boxes here all over the place.

[MosesPresley]

The Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.



Street level.

[Dinner]

MosesPresley, yeah I've been inside the building when I went to visit my best friend and his wife in Seattle earlier this year. I do like how they made the interior so cavernous that it feels open but much of it ends up feeling like just vast empty space. Compare that to, say, the newly redone Vienna Opera House where there are lots of little details all over the place to draw your eye and your interest. Beauty is in the details and this building lacks detail and instead is just an extension of the same minimialist ideology which has cursed the American landscape since the 1950's.

[mrmitchell]

I have enough trouble getting through square boxes, how do people manage monstrosities like the Stata Center and the Seattle Public Library?

[MosesPresley]

Originally posted by Oerdin
MosesPresley, yeah I've been inside the building when I went to visit my best friend and his wife in Seattle earlier this year.

Did you get to see the "living room?" I was wondering how comfortable it felt. It looks somewhat intimidating.

[Dinner]

Yeah, the living room is when you first walk in the main door. It felt a bit sparten to me since there was lots of open space but few places to sit so it wasn't very warm or inviting. The interior is pretty much an extension of the minimalist exterior but I must admite the high central ceiling and all the glass do atleast make the building a bright and open space to be in. It could benifit from a few water fountains, some green plants, some artistic features to draw interest, and additional plush coaches which invite people to sit and read a book.

All in all they could have done much worse like San Diego's, circula late 1940's, central library which is cramped, dingy, with low ceilings, with ugly colorless concrete every where, and those tiny windows so popular with post war architects.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by MosesPresley
The Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

No way, dude. That's ****in' cool.

[MosesPresley]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


No way, dude. That's ****in' cool.

I haven't made my mind up on that one yet, but the close up doesn't look to good.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Yeah, the living room is when you first walk in the main door. It felt a bit sparten to me since there was lots of open space but few places to sit so it wasn't very warm or inviting.

Yeah, it looks nicely spacious but overly barren.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
No way, dude. That's ****in' cool.

I am not sure if "cool" is the adjective. The group of structures looks like a site hit by earthquake.

Different, for sure.

[Dinner]

I do like the Stata Center though I wish they had included more green spaces and less baren & sterile concrete courtyards. The ownership companies love concrete because it is maintance free but it is also crappy to look at, radiates lots of heat from the sun, and isn't at all inviting.

I bet on a beautiful spring day that space has no one walking around, sitting out, our enjoying the day. If it was a green grassy area with lots of flowers and trees or maybe a nice fountain then lots of people would be drawn to it. There is almost no nature in the city and that is why places like Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London are so popular. Finding creative ways to include islands of green open space is a great way to make cities more livable, improve the enviroment, and attract people outside.

I like the roof top park which the mayor of Chicago has built on top of city hall. It took a wasted space and turned it into a green attractive area with great views where people can go and enjoy the outdoors. I understand the mayor of Beijing loves this idea and he plans on creating several roof top parks in his city for the Olympic Games. What a great idea which adds value and improves the quality of life for people.

[chequita guevara]

There's this building in Illinois, along 290, that looks like the aborted nightmare of a Borg cube. I wish I could find a picture. All I can find is sattelite imagery, which just doesn't do it justice. It makes Trellik Tower look good.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I like the roof top park which the mayor of Chicago has built on top of city hall.

As corrupt as the city government of Chicago is (which is nothing compared to the South or New Jersey), they really do put a lot of effort into making it a nice place to live. I do miss my city.