For your entertainment, the Twitter account in question has been documenting terrible building examples ever since it was created in 2020. As the creator writes in the description, this social media account is a virtual gallery of some of the ugliest buildings found across the world, from China to Belgium to the United States. And they certainly deliver.
The page currently has over 3k followers, but its Latin American version has gained a strong foothold on the platform by amassing over 31k devoted fans eagerly waiting for a new ugly creation to grace their feeds. They are both well-known for shaming buildings or public spaces that were designed without a dash of love or talent, and a brief scroll through their accounts shows a variety of wacky designs and spaces that are just begging to be poked fun at.
Moreover, each photo has a caption with the location of the building, and some offer more information like its name, construction date, and architect. So if some of these pictures left you scratching your head and wondering "What on earth were these people thinking!", this makes it much easier for you to look them up.
Speaking of architectural novelties, some ideas may (or may not) have once looked good on paper, but they probably should have just stayed on paper. Especially when architects have so many different ones, but they end up choosing them all at once. Of course, like any other art form, architecture is subjective, but this list offers proof that some buildings truly deserve all the strong opinions, criticism, and mockery they receive.
After all, when it comes to designing things for city living, you expect they are made with people in mind. Unfortunately, many creators wish to leave a mark and design buildings so unique that they will be remembered for years. Well, it's crystal clear that even with the best intentions, this desire for individuality does not always bring wanted results.
According to Associate professor Melonie Bayl-Smith from UNSW Built Environment, architecture today suffers from an originality syndrome. "When architects try to do something completely original, they don’t necessarily produce a better building," she said, adding that originality shouldn’t necessarily be the highest value of an architect.
"I see that architecture today, in some cases, has become a very form-based exercise, often at the expense of the quality of space or other crucial aspects of architecture. It doesn’t matter anymore whether it responds to anything to do with site or place or people — apparently we just want it to look different," Bayl-Smith added.
As the associate professor argued, creating a well-thought-out product is more important than doing something for the sake of its novelty. "I think we as a profession need to do a better job of recognizing what does work well, and developing and enriching those approaches, whether it’s spatial design, material design, the processes of building assembly, sustainable practices — all the different things that contribute to making a great, long-lasting building," she said. "There are enough poor buildings out there; we don’t need to keep 'inventing' more of them just to try and be 'original'."
Architects have the power to make our lives much easier, they have the ability to create a sense of calmness and safety. New buildings and public spaces need to accommodate and protect society, not make us feel uneasy and confused. After all, a report by the United Nations (U.N.) stated that 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas today. A number which is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Our environments are changing at an incredible rate, so designers, urban planners, and architects have to face challenges to ensure they serve the people who live there.
More often than not, however, they choose to make the modern world extremely ugly. In the last few centuries, humanity has made huge strides in technology, medical advances, and overall quality of life, but contemporary architecture still somehow manages to give us the jitters. As it’s explained in an article on Current Affairs, most architects will defend themselves by saying you simply don’t understand architectural principles.
