Top 10 World’s Ugliest Buildings 2012

There are so many ways and means in expressing the appreciation of art that it is no longer limited when it comes to the utilization of skills, expertise, and knowledge, when applying such talents into everyday or unusually practical methods. Others could think of creating vases and pots, while others are into vehicles and structures, such as office buildings, hospitals, housing facilities, museums, and even parks or parking spaces where they use their knowledge to make dreams or imaginations to reality. However, as much as there are architects and engineers willing to give their time and energy to produce the best buildings found in the neighborhood, there are others that just fail in this regard that they end up creating an ugly or weird building where you could just ridicule it for fun. For your reference, here are the top 10 world’s ugliest buildings 2012, wherein you may still find old places that need some loving or renovation for it.

10. Mirador Building
 

Have you ever used your imagination in creating funny skyscrapers and buildings with the use of building block toys when you were younger? If you have experienced such an event in your life, then perhaps you can feel architect Blanca Lleo for making the Mirador Building in Madrid, together with MVRDV. Upon looking afar, you may think that the color mixtures of red, black, white, and slate are creating the perfect idea that could arouse your mind into appreciating the said structure. However, once you come near and understand that this is actually a residential unit intended to accommodate families and other individuals, then you may think that this place is actually too ugly for serving its very purpose of providing safe and peaceful housing for everyone. The irony of it all is that this place has been considered Iconic by the very company that was responsible for its creation.

9. Ryugyong Hotel
 

Imagine that you are planning your stay in South Korea at a hotel that actually stands out among the rest. While your intention may be to flaunt your wealth or experience the best of hotel accommodations and facilities has to offer, you may not want to stay in the 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel. For being a waste of space for rooms to sleep in, it also gives you the impression that you would actually be boarding a space shuttle bound for planet Mars. Aside from being a bad sight for tourists and locals alike, you would even think of its poor functionality where the slant edge of the building may only have partitions for stairs, with the elevators may be poorly placed. It may not be exactly that ugly for a building, but what makes it worse is the tip of the edifice, which actually looks like the tip of an ice cream, perfectly insignificant to what the place truly represents.

8. Ponte City Apartments
 

Living in a high-rise apartment seems ordinary to most people who are living in progressive countries such as Europe, US, and even Canada. But when you introduce this idea in Africa, then you could have other things coming. Aside from the fact that these individuals are more into the concept of living in accessible homes, they also are not that comfortable in living in high places, which is why the Ponte City Apartments in Johannesburg is taken as an ugly sight for most settlers. When you look at it from afar, you may not take it as a residential building, but more of an oversized silo, commonly found close to the wilderness. While this may be an overstatement, the said residential area attracts so much attention to those who love to have a great view of the city, due to its 54-storey height.

7. Fang Yuan Building
 

What do you get when you combine the concept of an old Chinese coin and a building that could fit offices and even residential spaces within? Well, you simply call it an architectural contraption. This is how some people define the Fang Yuan Building, which is found in the city of Shenyang, Liaoning Province. It can be amazing enough that you could create a structure that has a functioning space with round edges, but what can be more fascinating, or irritating in this case, is the fact that the building has to have a square whole in the middle, which perfectly creates the resemblance of a Chinese coin that actually represents good luck and prosperity. It could be attributed to such, but knowing that buildings are not commonly created with this preference makes this place something ugly for the city view.

6. Zizkov Television Tower
 

There is one place in Prague that can be considered as refuge because you can find a rocket here that is set to be launched away from the earth, at any given time when global disasters arise. Oh wait, they do not have rockets here as the highest tower found in town is actually a television station tower being created for the viewers. While the appearance of the Zizkov Tower is already as deceiving to many, the fun does not stop there. When you move ever closer to the structure, you will be surprised that the walls have been embellished with sculptures that depict babies crawling. So by the time that you stay in Prague and see this building, do not even consider the fact that this may be your next avenue towards your journey into space, and no, there are no astronauts nearby.

5. Elephant Building
 

Setting afoot in Thailand would just excite you with the amazing street food, the historical architecture, along with the experience of riding elephants during your expeditions and tourist travels. Although this country is known to be populated with so much elephants, it does not mean that people would always like it being represented with ways or methods that are not as comprehensible as it should be. Sumet Jumsai created the Elephant Building in 1997 where it gives you the idea that you may not be staying in Thailand, but most probably in Legoland, since the building can be created through bricks. The structure was so poorly made that it cannot be identified as an elephant, but as a geometric rhino with the bill of a duck, which can be a sorry excuse to many viewers. To top it all up, this building serves areas for offices, residential spaces, suites and luxurious quarters, a shopping plaza, and it even has a partition for gardens and a pool, which can exceed your expectations of a place that does not look as attractive from afar.

4. Federation Square
 

Who would even believe that a not-so-good-looking building can actually attract to as many as 9 million visits every year? This is the kind of appeal and attention that the Federation Square gets from the interested individuals who wanted to see the many things that have been created and made within the 3.2 hectare property, which connects the Flinders Street and the Yarra River. Although the purpose has been met, with Lab Architecture Studio and Bates Smart working together in achieving one goal, the outcome became different than expected, which actually aroused suspicion with the completion of the facility. We are not just talking about one building here, but almost all the establishments erected in this area are all depicting shards, or even broken glass at one point.

3. The National Library
 

When you think of national libraries, you could have a picture of huge corridors, towering walls, and even broad ceilings that make way for hundreds of thousands of books, along with spaces that have been dedicated for students and researchers alike. However, when you go to Pristina in Kosovo, you would find out that their National Library may be different from what you could imagine. The library is made of many windows with railings that do not justify its purpose, and there are over 30 different domes created on each square space being done in the architectural design of the structure. You may even think of UK’s famous game show called The Crystal Maze being held here, which can be a bit funny, especially when you get a glimpse of it atop a building. You may even attribute the domes as mushrooms popping off a tree bark.

2. The Tours Aillaud
 

Everyone in the world has their own concept and understanding of art, which may be confusing to some and downright genius to others. With this fact being established, there is one structure in France that just shows this perfect example of how an architect could envision his version of a masterpiece, with what can be imagined as chaos and disorder, by people, who are most conservative and conventional, when it comes to the grasping of the principles of art and design. The Tours Aillaud, being found in the suburbs of Paris, are groups of buildings that have been created with round edges and curves, which could be perceived as contemporary, considering the fact that Emile Aillaud built the said edifices in 1977. But when you let your children look at it, they could even tell you that some windows are not placed in areas where they are supposed to be, and the painting of the walls are disorganized, incomplete, and dirty looking.

1. Torre Velasca
 

When the Velasca Tower was completed in Milano in 1958, the concept of the architects at the time was to include the said structure to the tradition and architectural model being followed by the Milan Cathedral and the Sforzesco Castle, which was prominent and recognized at the time. The BBPR partnership of Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers adapted the primitive way of constructing towers as what had been seen with old castles, while seeing to it that it meets contemporary design and comfort. While it was perceived to be a sign of progress back then, it is now considered a terrible sight in the Italian skyline due to its basic layout, and mushroom-like image.