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Belgian Guy Documents Ugly Houses He Sees And They’re So Bad, It’s Hilarious (30 More New Pics)
Interview
There’s nothing like seeing photos of horrible and ugly architecture to perk up your spirits. You look at those ugly buildings and you think to yourself, “2020 might be a horrible year and things are going to hell but at least my life’s better than these trainwrecks.” If you’re a fan of architectural disasters, then you have to check out the Ugly Belgian Houses social media pages, run by local Hannes Coudenys. His project of taking snaps of ugly houses in Belgium is loved by a lot of people and he jokes that it’s turned into almost a “cult.”
Hannes told Bored Panda that a big part of his growth online has been the fact that he's been doing a project for Belgian TV. "I ring the door and ask them if they know they are on this page. In the end, I tell them it's my website." You can check out Hannes' videos right here. He's still working on them and around 25 new ones are in the making.
You can check out Bored Panda’s earlier awesome posts featuring Ugly Belgian Houses right here and here. But before you do that, scroll down, upvote your fave horrendous buildings, and read on for our freshest interview with Hannes.
More info: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | YouTube | Book
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Reminds Me Of 'The Scream' By Edvard Munch And That's Exactly What I'm Doing
RELATED:
#2
Malebox
Courtney LeDroit 5 years ago
Is it Mailbox because the house looks like a mailbox or because the mailbox looks like a penis?
Anja Schmidt 5 years ago
I can't concentrate on the rest of the house - I got stuck on the mailbox XD
#3
Go Home House, You’re Drunk
Hannes told Bored Panda that there is a problem with becoming too big, too fast. This has lead to some architectural drama on his social media pages. People have been clashing there because they have different opinons about experimental architecture and classical Belgian farmstyle buildings. "I never wanted to shame experimental [buildings]," Hannes said.
He told us that his book sales have been doing great and it's already become a cult classic in Belgium. "A lot of tourists buy the book when they visit. We sold about 20,000 copies which is quite big in our small country of 10 million people."
Hannes said that going outside was easier during the coronavirus lockdown. "We could go outside for walks and runs so that [taking pictures of houses] was the only thing I could do."
#4
I’m Not Supporting This. Just Like Those Columns
#6
The Roof, The Roof, The Roof Has Expired
Tomasz Jackowski 5 years ago
this one took me by surprise, I saw the first photo and was like "oh no...", but then I kept scrolling and it turns out there was another photo which made it even worse :V
“We all love to hate ugly Belgian houses,” Hannes told Bored Panda in an earlier interview. However, he added that it’s not just Belgium that’s full of wacky architecture.
“Poland has terrible architecture, as a lot of people have let me see,” Hannes said. He also pointed out that Belgium has lots of great architecture, too (so it’s not all dreary and grim down there). “I like the work of Gijs van Vaerenbergh, Vens-Vanbelle, De Vylder Vinck Taillieu, Vincent van Duysen.”
More than 107k people follow Hannes’ Ugly Belgian Houses page on Facebook while his fan count on Instagram has grown to 101k (it was 76.8k in October 2019).
#7
Exsqueeze Me
#8
When You Discover There’s An Ugly Belgian House Under Your Ugly Belgian House
#9
Please Restart Windows
According to Hannes, Belgians have a weird interpretation of what makes a house look good. “Normally, if you like architecture you like good houses, but in Belgium, there’s a lot of ugly architecture. So I started taking pictures of it.”
He added that regulations in Belgium are quite liberal and people love to design their own quirky dream houses. However, some house owners were angry that Hannes featured photos of them online.
Tempers flared. Lawyers got involved. And Hannes gave in and shut down his blog. Fortunately, he relaunched it back in 2013. Now he asks people to contact him directly if they don’t like seeing their weird homes being poked fun at online.
#10
I’m Stuck
#11
By Frank Lloyd Wrong
#12
Keep Your Distance People
#13
Like A Rubik’s Cube You Can’t Solve
#15
House Xs
#16
The Statue Of Misery
#17
When Your House Is A Penis But You’re Not Allowed To Show It
#18
50% Shades Of Grey
#19
Zip Up, I Can See Your Chimney
#20
The Architect Had A Vision (Problem)
Anja Schmidt 5 years ago
"we had some metal leftovers ..." or maybe in areas where´sa lot of snow ...
#21
If I Ever Shoot The Movie ‘Two Alfa Romeo’s & Julia’ I Know Where To Go
#23
When You Used A Condom But Still Got An Std
#24
Adidarchitecture
#25
100% Real No Fake Doggo
#26
Stay Inside
#27
We All Live In A Yellow Submarine
#28
Welcome To My Shiteau
#29
When Your First Phone Was A Nokia
#31
Me When There's A Sale. (Thx Hadie)
#32
Friends With Benefits
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
The wooden door gives them acces to the rear of their property for bicycles and bikes and waste bins. Very common in Belgium and the Netherlands.
#33
When They Keep Parking On Your Disabled Spot.
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
Belgium doesn't have "personal" parking spots. You can apply to have a spot marked as a disabled spot, but it still can be used by anyone who also has a parking permit for disabled spots.
#34
Quatro Stogi Oh No
#35
So What’s It Like Living On A Timezone Line?
#39
Who Wants To Be An Ugly Belgian House? Please Raise Your Tower
#41
Architecture Is Peanuts
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
Imagine the effort and money that went into the creation of this monstrosity. Which civil servant was sleeping when he approved this?
#43
Oh Look A Tiny House!
#45
Solar Powered Balcony
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
Shutting out the light with solar panels so you need to switch on the light to see how much you are saving....
#46
While A Part Of Me Wants To Know, Another Part Of Me Is Too Exhausted To Ask
Bardhi's Dad 5 years ago
Is there a green pig on the window? Or maybe green teddy bear? I'm not sure
#47
He Took It Too Pharaoh
Tomasz Jackowski 5 years ago
does each of those have a riddle you need to answer to enter the house?
#50
With This Weather You Can Use A Warm Hat
#53
You Have To Stay Inside But You Don't Have To Throw Away Your Door
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
Looks like they decided to move the frontdoor to the side of the house.
#54
I Should Stay Inside
#56
It’s A Trap
Croline Lason 5 years ago
is the pun in the caption intended? "Trap" means "staircase" in Dutch
#57
Suddenly, I’m Not Half The House I Used To Be
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
When their parents died the 2 sons got in a fight over the inheritance so one of them packed up and went away.
#61
‘I Fok Horses.’ ‘Pardon?’ Yes, Paarden!
Ludwig Michiel 5 years ago (edited)
The caption is a play on English-Dutch false friends: "Ik fok" means "I breed", and "paarden" means "horses".
#65
When The Battle Between The Left Wing And The Right Wing Got Ugly
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
It's just 2 properties with different levels of maintenance. The right house has the roof tiles replaced and the bricks of the walls power washed.
#66
Beautiful Shiteau!
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What do you think ?
Kenny Kulbiski 5 years ago
Most of these I'd call unusual rather than ugly. I kinda like the non conformist attitude. "It's my house, screw what you think."
Geth 5 years ago
No, they're really, really, really ugly. Most of them are either attempts to save money on taxes, or built by people with more pretension than money.
Load More Replies...
Christine Down 4 years ago
They are NOT ugly they are country specific. I'm sure if I toured around your country I could find houses that are comparable. This is just another example of xenophobia dressed up as aren't people in other countries funny?
Peter De Cock 5 years ago
It's a project for Belgian TV? Lol they still have to invent the station it'll be on? 😂 Some photos are photoshopped like #3 but yeah some older houses are fixer uppers and not in the best ways, like the one showing a car with bk/wh licence plate in front, very -euh- German haha.
Amelia Betts. Ido this for free 5 years ago
Thanks for the laugh!!! My day was made à little brighter
2WheelTravlr 5 years ago
Do Belgians pay a tax based on window size and quantity? Or are all Belgians actually vampires?
Marcellus the Third 5 years ago
He keeps getting sued by homeowners and architects for listing their houses on his blog (even without locations or other identifiers).
Izuna Kazuki 5 years ago
What you call ugly house in belgium, we call it most beautiful in my country. We live in stacked brick with pile of tile roof there.
Kenny Kulbiski 5 years ago
Most of these I'd call unusual rather than ugly. I kinda like the non conformist attitude. "It's my house, screw what you think."
Geth 5 years ago
No, they're really, really, really ugly. Most of them are either attempts to save money on taxes, or built by people with more pretension than money.
Load More Replies... Christine Down 4 years ago
They are NOT ugly they are country specific. I'm sure if I toured around your country I could find houses that are comparable. This is just another example of xenophobia dressed up as aren't people in other countries funny?
Peter De Cock 5 years ago
It's a project for Belgian TV? Lol they still have to invent the station it'll be on? 😂 Some photos are photoshopped like #3 but yeah some older houses are fixer uppers and not in the best ways, like the one showing a car with bk/wh licence plate in front, very -euh- German haha.
Amelia Betts. Ido this for free 5 years ago
Thanks for the laugh!!! My day was made à little brighter
2WheelTravlr 5 years ago
Do Belgians pay a tax based on window size and quantity? Or are all Belgians actually vampires?
Marcellus the Third 5 years ago
He keeps getting sued by homeowners and architects for listing their houses on his blog (even without locations or other identifiers).
Izuna Kazuki 5 years ago
What you call ugly house in belgium, we call it most beautiful in my country. We live in stacked brick with pile of tile roof there.
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