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Ugly Buildings

Bikewer said:
They tore down the ugliest building we had here on campus, the Mudd law school building.
Unfortunately, Google images apparently has nothing archived.
A remnant of the "fortress" school of architecture, it was essentially a big block of raw, unfinished concrete. There were even a large number of 1" holes in the exterior walls that everyone took to be mounting points for some sort of facings that were never applied...
Not so, we were told. It was supposed to look that way.
We used to give directions using the building for a marker... "Just go down this road till you get to the really ugly building, and then turn left...."
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I think those holes might be there to allow the concrete to expand and contract during temperature changes and while it cures without cracking. I never saw the Mudd building, but I've seen others with similar holes.

Ward
 
This is building in downtown Dallas. Obviously the architect got his inspiration from a 90's era Compaq Presario desktop computer. (sorry for the bad image quality...I was on a moving bus when I snapped the pic)

biggestcomputer.jpg
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
The great irony with your post is that it is a Tadao Ando masterpiece. A stunning building.
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The problem is, after you've been inside it for an hour or more, you begin to see the patrons wearing striped uniforms, marching to and from locations in lockstep, with armed guards watching from the catwalks (and there are several of them -- catwalks, that is -- overhead). Dreary and gray does not begin to describe the interior of the building. It's massive. It's solid. It's ALL CONCRETE. I wasn't joking when I said I scouted the place for a prison location -- it's that bleak inside.

Beanbag

ETA: Even the wikipedia entry doesn't show the interior:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Art_Museum_of_Fort_Worth

The outside is strictly institutional grand fridgid under glass.
 
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I think I have a winner for the ugliest building.
 

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Travis said:
A giant building that looks like a cartoon elephant. Case closed. Nothing from brutalism even comes close.

ETA: for those that thought I was joking.
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You can live in the same building you work at? Sweet. And it gets to be the giant elephant? Awesome.

It's in Bangkok? Deal breaker.

__________________

I should have added a few buildings at SUNY at Fredonia, but the administration building is a must add.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhaithaca/134549603/

http://sln.suny.edu/cp/cp_fredonia.shtml

I wish I had a picture from a different angle, because from the front it looks like a giant concrete urinal. Again, this is right off of Lake Erie and it does indeed create a huge wind effect and also has little interior floor space. Amazing view from the top though.
 
Beanbag said:
The problem is, after you've been inside it for an hour or more, you begin to see the patrons wearing striped uniforms, marching to and from locations in lockstep, with armed guards watching from the catwalks (and there are several of them -- catwalks, that is -- overhead). Dreary and gray does not begin to describe the interior of the building. It's massive. It's solid. It's ALL CONCRETE. I wasn't joking when I said I scouted the place for a prison location -- it's that bleak inside.

Beanbag

ETA: Even the wikipedia entry doesn't show the interior:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Art_Museum_of_Fort_Worth

The outside is strictly institutional grand fridgid under glass.
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Yes, it's all concrete. That's Ando's trademark. Like I said, a stunning building, for those with discerning taste in architecture.

He also designed the Pulitzer Foundation building in St. Louis which has received raves since opening. http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1C...&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1680&bih=935
 
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For your perusal, the American Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Not only is it ugly (IMHO) and impractical, but one of the first things we're told when deployed overseas is "be inconspicious, don't flaunt it around that you're an American", and what do we do but build the most flamboyant Embassy in the city, something no terrorist could miss (take a left on 25th, Abdul and look for the wedge."

 
Ove said:
Pete Seeger?


Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses
All go to the university,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
And there's doctors and there's lawyers
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf-course,
And drink their Martini dry,
And they all have pretty children,
And the children go to school.
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
And they all get put in boxes
And they all come out the same.

And the boys go into business,
And marry, and raise a family,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.



:D
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I thought this thread was about bad Architecture, not death anxiety. Lol!
 
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