This should be quite an interesting thing to have a thread on

what Building, do you think has the worst of the worst of the worst architecture you have ever seen.
i mean SERIOUSLY bad architecture

so bad it makes Guys look nice?

my choice...

the tricorn centre portsmouth;
(Thank goodness its gone!)

http://www.plasticbag.org/images/extra/tricorn_image.jpg

http://www.c20society.org.uk/images/casework/tricorn/main1.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/29/47496260_e912ab8ca7_o.jpg

http://www.blueskies.aviators.net/trnet4.jpg

I wouldnt wish the tricorn on any city but it did have some nice tactile shapes. For me i think its any of the buildings along the thames next to st pauls - really awfull for such a prominant site.

^^^yeah, the Typewriter building is one such example :ohno:

The vast majority of Stoke-on-Trent.

I still think Luder rocks! :rock:

The vast majority of Stoke-on-Trent.


lol! :lol:

Coventry Ringroad.
Shopping Precinct in Coventry
Most of the tower blocks in Coventry.
Coventry, really.

Coventry Ringroad.
Shopping Precinct in Coventry
Most of the tower blocks in Coventry.
Coventry, really.

It's an acquired taste
(acquired slowly and painfully)

It's an acquired taste
(acquired slowly and painfully)

:)

I'm being unfair. Coventry's very much a product of the post-war years, and some of its architecture is good for that era. Belgrade Theatre, Broadgate House to name two. Trouble is, much of it is the same, bland style and a lot of it is just cheap and nasty - Cov Uni, for example.

Birmingham (60s!) Bull Ring was pretty terrible, not so much the way it looked, more the way it didn't work as a building.


also:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=344100

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=448513

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. These 60's buildngs (to clump them all together) will one day be appreciated again. I'm not saying that monstrosoties like the Tricorn shouldn't be pulled down, but a time will come when this architecture (if properly maintained) will be desirable, even if only in the 'it adds to the architectural mix' sense.

I know what you mean JamesWales, I think that 60's building next to the CIA is really nice now they have done it up.

Birmingham (60s!) Bull Ring was pretty terrible, not so much the way it looked, more the way it didn't work as a building.


also:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=344100

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=448513

yeah i know, im talking about ANYWHERE EVER. not just the UK

Lowthian House Preston
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/8596/296qr.jpg

If its anywhere in the world then i really hate imitations like the eiffel tower in Las Vegas, the Pyramids in Las vegas.... ok most of Las Vegas but also the new housing schemes in China such as England town, or French chateauxs for wealthy millionairs - takes away from the country of origin and provides (generally) a poor reproduction

yeah, there are pictures of that England town somewhere, all the houses and stuff look...well...plastic

Poundbury, that town Prince Charles built.

i quite like lowthian house, for its era its not to bad and its relavively well positioned. it doesnt dominate over the shopping area below it due to the thin side facing it. thou the space between it and the markets leading to the ringroad is pretty awful.

The town in Arizona that is trying to be like London. It's got London phone boxes and old looking pubs and hotels. They bought the old London Bridge and it's spanning there man made lake. There are also stories that someone made up of a ghost that comes from underneath the bridge every so often.
A group of stupid Americans thought they were getting Tower Bridge apparently. :lol:

For me i think its any of the buildings along the thames next to st pauls - really awfull for such a prominant site.

Ahaa...I hate that car-park or whataver it is and also this monster :

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=bucklersburyhouse-london-unitedkingdom

It will be demolished soon which is great.Can you believe that some people actually think it should be saved? :nuts:

I like that one.

No really, I like the 50s modernism espically as the buildings tend to be so big, and that's a good example of a monster!

I also like the 50s one near Manchester town Hall,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v371/IsaacNewell/steven.jpg
and the one between Birmingham's 5 Ways station, and err.. the 5 ways roundabout itself, who's names escaped me.

http://www.arbo.co.uk/images/five-ways2.jpg
Not the best picture of it!

I like that one.

I like the 50s modernism espically as the buildings tend to be so big

And ugly.;)

Stupid Americans thought they were getting Tower Bridge. :lol:


That isn't true. No need to insult a whole nation is there?

It's not actually the complete bridge. They cut of the surface layer of the stones, and reclad them around a concrete shell that was constructed for it. London bridge is mainly dumped in a quarry somewhere.

and the one between Birmingham's 5 Ways station, and err.. the 5 ways roundabout itself, who's names escaped me.
!

5 Ways house

:)

I'm being unfair. Coventry's very much a product of the post-war years, and some of its architecture is good for that era. Belgrade Theatre, Broadgate House to name two. Trouble is, much of it is the same, bland style and a lot of it is just cheap and nasty - Cov Uni, for example.

It isn't that bad....as quoted its a product of the post war years when everything WAS bland! Don't knock it I enjoyed my time at Cov Uni - admittedly i did move after 18 months to London and transferred to UCL.

There is more that 20th century balnd to the place tho.....try Spon Street.

just had a thought.......the area around New Street Station in birmingham is horrible we could drop a small nuclear bomb on the place......I would have included the bullring in that but they improved it no end.

It isn't that bad....as quoted its a product of the post war years when everything WAS bland! Don't knock it I enjoyed my time at Cov Uni - admittedly i did move after 18 months to London and transferred to UCL.

There is more that 20th century balnd to the place tho.....try Spon Street.

I hate Spon Street. It's a fake street, has about as much charm as my armpit and is filled with fast good joints and crap bars. The Olde Windmill has smashed windows and the landlord can't be bothered to replace them as they just get broken again.

It also smells of fat.

just had a thought.......the area around New Street Station in birmingham is horrible we could drop a small nuclear bomb on the place......I would have included the bullring in that but they improved it no end.

You've got my vote!

Interestingly New St Stn is almost not architecture as it was designed by engineers. It shows.

High Point, Westgate, Bradfordhttp://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=isch&source=mog&hl=en&gl=uk&tab=wi&q=high%20point%20bradford&sa=N&biw=320&bih=356#i=1

The correct answer is

Preston's Magistrates Court


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Preston_Magistrates_Court.jpg

no, the correct answer is: Civic Centre, Plymouth
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/content/news/2010/images/plymouth-civic-centre

Mandale Student Block, Middlesbrough.

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/4665MandaleStudentResidence_pic2.jpg

That isn't true. No need to insult a whole nation is there?

It's not actually the complete bridge. They cut of the surface layer of the stones, and reclad them around a concrete shell that was constructed for it. London bridge is mainly dumped in a quarry somewhere.

Wikipedia is working hard on its reputability, and the current listing is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_(Lake_Havasu_City)
I went there in 1976 as a kid and it was far from the "worst in the world".

I'd ascribe that tag to what I call "Mortgage architecture", where overworked and underpaid architects are required to knock something out in a hour or two just to get paid by clients interested only in making money to line their own pockets, living far away from the schemes they inflict on others. All the large housing developers in Britain, such as Barratts for example, fall in to this category as far as I'm concerned.

In fact, most bad architecture is due to the demands of greedy clients. It's so fucking hard to become an architect in the first place that no-one would go through the demands of its lengthy education and strictures to earn relative peanuts in the end.
This is not a problem bad doctors have. They bury their failures. The work of bad architects tend to be visible for a few decades at least.

no, the correct answer is: Civic Centre, Plymouth
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/content/news/2010/images/plymouth-civic-centre

Despite my post above, I'd find it hard to disagree with this. On all my visits to Plymouth, I've detested the place, and it's Civic Centre was such a shallow imitation of the architecture and architects (I imagine) it sought to emulate that it fell so flat on its face.
On the up side, I'm sure there's fare more souless and even blander projects throughout Romania, Russia and North Korea - none of which I've been to, mind.