It's Elfin's Tuesday Architectural Appreciation thread! Hatred and Disgust

At Binnerses suggestion, this week’s all about buildings what you don’t like, monstrosities what should be knocked down, carbuncles what ought never to have existed.

I thought it a good topic, and bound to get STWers fired up cos they’re never happier collectively than when they’re hating something…

Would be a crime for me not to start with One Canada Square, AKA ‘Thatcher’s Penis’; that monstrous symbol of greed and selfishness. Has bugger all architectural merit, just a monolithic slab plonked down with no thought of consideration to anyone but those making money in it:

Nasty thing. As bland and characterless as the corporations that occupy it.

Westfield Shopping centre, Stratford; lasting ‘legacy’ my arse:

Birmingham New St; Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here:

What a dump. I feel sorry for anyone who has to use that place on a regular basis, it’s dark, dingy and miserable. Not a good advert for Birmingham, is it?

Settle in folks, this could be a good ‘un. Let the hatred flow….

…it’s dark, dingy and miserable. Not a good advert for Birmingham, is it?

Erm…..

Cumbernauld town centre looks pretty grim, never been, funniliy enough..

The University of Bristol’s Stundent’s Union. A more hateful, bland concrete monstrosity I have yet to find. That’s pretty much the only picture of it on Google Images, perhaps the Uni knows how terrible it is and has attempted to censor it. Made worse by the fact that the University owns many fanstastic buildings and grounds.

I looked at buying a flat across the road but decided I’d rather rub salt into open wounds than wake up looking at that.

Nice one Fred! Let me kick off with this monstrosity:

The Piccadilly Hotel. I loath it! A concrete abomination which casts its vile angular shadow over the Gardens, and pollutes the gorgeous facades opposite it with its horrendous presence. Unbelievably, it’s a listed building! 😯

Hateful, shambolic – the Rotunda in B’ham.

*dry vom’s*

Look at the state of this “community facility” in Swinton, Salford. Like a busted chest of drawers.

Brasenose College…

Bangor is grim enough, without this monstrosity

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Brambell Building

Fond memories of some of the classes in there though.

I am in the mood for venting architectural spleen:

I give you the Scottish Parliament building. WTF?

thanks for the tip!

You can cover the surrounding areas with all the glass and steel you like, but at the heart of it, there’s still this enormous festering wart

Its even the same colour as pus.

I would personally like to thank the IRA terrorists who destroyed the Arndale Centre. But, the bomb just wasn’t quite big enough to take this out too. Shame really

I give you B’Ham central library. WTF?

Scottish Parliament Building I think you mean?

I’m warming to my theme too Derek. And this ****ing place. Christ I hate it and everything it represents! But particularly, I HATE the way it looks

Oh look! Its 1988 again, isn’t it? Its like pair of ****ing shoulder pads. Vile, garish, crass and vulgar. Inside its even worse!

Mmmmmmmmmm. Tasteful!

old cooncil HQ aberdeen

New building at a cost of a gazillion pounds to the local tax payer.

Fawley Oil refinery, and it stinks

TriCorn Center in P’mth, thankfully pulled down now.

UEA Accomodation block, still looks rubbish all these years later.

H*BC Building in Sotty, hurl.

I was just perusing a Wikipedia page on Brutalist Architecture when Elfin popped up with this.

Thanks – I think.

The Tower Thistle hotel, absolute eyesore & spoils the surrounding area.
It’s just as grim inside too.

The Shard. Impressive engineering no doubt, butwhen seen in the flesh it looks damn ugly, dirty and dated with all that glass.

The new Royal London Hospital. Can you see it?

M2 building, Tokyo:

Kosovo Library:

This is suppopsed to be the way forward. The contempary yet vast and repugnant Beetham Tower in Deansgate Manchester.

It was Binnerses idea!

It was him sir, he made me do it. 😥

Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar east London; there were attempts to have it listed by a bunch of architects, designers, historians etc basically no-one who actually had to live in the dump. There was a docu on it, and one scene where an actual resident challenges an architect bod to swap homes if he felt so strongly about it.

The architect din’t feel that strongly about it. Surprise surprise…

A perfect example of something designed without much idea of the genuine needs of residents or the effect such poor planning has on people:

Millgarth Nick, Leeds. Spent many a night there… 🙁

Crawley College. The Lubyanka of ac.uk’s…

County Mall, Crawley. Looks like Duplo, but nowhere near as much fun. Oh well, I suppose it’s what’s on the inside that counts…

Oh. Chavs….

I saw that programme on Robin Hood Gardens.

It reminds me of footage I’ve seen of Pripyat.

GTDave; I hear you on the Tower Hotel; how on Earth anyone was allowed to build that thing where they did, is beyond me. Dwarfs and dominates the Tower of London. Totally wrong and needs knocking down.

With you also on the new London Hostpital, but as for the Shard, well, I think it’ll look very impressive and be an excellent ‘skyscraper’. Unlike this nastiness, theHeron Tower on Bishopsgate:

Ruins the skyline that was dominated by the NatWest tower and the Gherkin, which are two architecturally outstanding buildings. The Heron tower was meant to be more swoopy and elegant, but I think they then ran out of money or something so built that carbuncle instead. It’s a terrible shame.

I give you the Sheffield “Egg Box”. Although thankfully this affront to the senses was actually pulled down a few years ago:

Cynical-Al; My grandad was the Clerk of Works on Cumbernauld….all of it. 😆

My contribution;
Tayside house Dundee[/url]

When I was a kid my Mum used to get her fruit and veg from the market this replaced,Tayside house; seat of our Lords and Masters.

St James centre Edinburgh – just a hideous monstrosity and so out of keeping

dominates the skyline

Well I’m just disappointed no one has posted the obvious joke yet.

Client – Draw m a box and stick some windows in it, then draw me a triangle atrium, make sure to give it glass sliding doors and make the place not only look cold, but feel cold too.
Architect – Righty Ho, I give you Watford Gap M’way Services and don’t you worry Mr Client, I’ve been able to replicate this piece of s*ite all over the country for you.
Client – excellent, heres your fee, all £9.10 of it and I’ll take that back off you for the coffee you’ve just had in our “seating area”

Well I’m just disappointed no one has posted the obvious joke yet.

What’s that then? I thought Derek Starbelly had actually; the Scottish Parliament. Proposed cost of something like what, £40 million, ended up costing how much? £400+ million???

It’s a joke, for sure, just not a very funny one…. 🙁

Tamworth police station because not only is it a bit of an eye sore but I have spent far too many nights in the cells…

Maxwelltown multis in Dundee

Oh, guess what

wooohoo indeed

Slightly OT, but between towers 1 and 2, amnd 3 and 4, there are small two storey buildings, don’t know what they are but they’re still there and intact (minus some glass)

A controversial one…

Magnificent, but at the same time a monstrously expensive mess.

GTDave; I hear you on the Tower Hotel; how on Earth anyone was allowed to build that thing where they did, is beyond me. Dwarfs and dominates the Tower of London. Totally wrong and needs knocking down.

I fully agree with this.

Birmingham Central Library.
Thank Christ its going.
God awful place.

Southampton City Center

City Planner – Hello Mr newly qualified Architect of the 1960’s, I’d like a s*ite design for all our loverly Town and City centers, can you please disregard anything you’e learned over your time at College and just get a set square out and a 2B pencil. It must be boxy, it simply must be damn ugly and it simply must not envolke a feeling of anyone staying around t enjoy themselves, we can’t have that now can we..
Newly Qualified Architect of the 1960’s – Whooo hooo Man look what I’ve done, I’ve ruined our heritage and taken the soul out of our once beautiful Cities and Towns, I’m most proud Man, most proud.
City Planner – Well done, heres the £9bn we owe you, don’t spend it all on Dope will you, save some for “you know who” know won’t you.
Newly Qualified Architect of the 1960’s – Ahhh People will remember me for ever, I’m so proud of myself.

I give you the Sheffield “Egg Box”. Although thankfully this affront to the senses was actually pulled down a few years ago:

I seem to remember that building being destroyed by a 40kiloton nuke in Threads 😮

I can feel the bitterness and anger oozing out of you, bikebouy. 😀

Keep the hate flowing, people….

How do I post a picture of the whole of Slough?

Anyway, for personal reasons, I would like to present a side view of Brunel University library. I hate it. I hate the way it is “sun-bleached bone” colour during the summer and “runny turd” colour when it rains. I hate the wood-grain effect poured concrete of it.

The _only_ redeeming thing about it is that it starred (briefly) in “A Clockwork Orange”

Look at it… barely 35 years old and already crumbling.

I actually quite like the scottish parliament building – the cost over run is nowt to do with its merit as a bit of archtecture. Lots of politics around its commisioning.

at least its not a bland concrete box and edinburgh has quite enough uninspired modern architecture and duff pastiche “faux olde” architecture

Wrexham police station, Horrible.

And why are all our new police stations identical. At the top is Little Hulton copshop, Salford. The bottom pic shows progress – Pendleton police staion again in Salford. And below; Swinton police station

I can kinda get the desire for a service identity but make it a bloody good one.