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A good building is one that finds the right synthesis between aesthetics on the one hand and functionality on the other. But, truth be told, far from every architect, designer, or urban planner can get this balance right. Some of their projects turn out to be so divisive that they’re both criticized and lauded by locals.
Design-savvy internet users with good taste took to a thread on ‘AskTheWorld’ to call out what they believe are the quirkiest and ugliest buildings in their home countries. They’re the type of architectural projects that you might love to hate or hate to love. Scroll down to check out the pics, and don’t forget to share your opinions.
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#2
The Jiangsu Hairy Crab Building Refers To The "Hairy Crab Ecological Museum" Located On The Shore Of Yangcheng Lake In Kunshan, Suzhou, China
This building is known for its giant stainless steel "hairy crab" image, which is 75 meters long and 16 meters high. Its appearance is lifelike. It was originally planned as a crab-themed commercial complex to showcase crab culture, but due to controversies over its design and construction, part of it has been demolished and rebuilt. However, it has left a deep impression on people as a unique landmark.
#3
The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) Headquarters In Hyderabad, India
It's kinda ugly, kinda cute?
According to CNN, truly ugly buildings tend to have some things in common.
They tend to divide the general public, local residents, and architects. They are so controversial that people protest against them.
These projects usually have very big budgets associated with them. And they’re often attempts by architects to create contemporary or futuristic styling.
#4
North China University Of Water Resources And Electric Power Has Them Beat
Stucklikegluetomyfry:
Was designing it to look like a giant toilet intentional?
#5
This Example Of High Australian Architecture Is Up For Sale
#6
Museum Of Pop Culture In Seattle
I think it was voted one of the ugliest buildings in the US a while back.
Balance is everything. A building that is aesthetic but not functional will be beautiful to look at, but it will be a waste of space and a drain on resources. On the other end of the scale, a fully functional building that has no real architectural identity, and is bland or even ugly to look at, might push the locals away and harm the city’s reputation.
You need a symbiosis between beauty and function to bring out the full potential of any building. And while we can’t expect anything close to perfection from any random project, when you’re talking about massive budgets and world-renowned architects, you tend to expect, well, quality.
#7
This Is The Town Hall Of The City That I Went To High School In, We Nicknamed It “The Pimple”
It’s in the Netherlands and actually got voted ugliest building in the country for a while.
#8
Home Of The Richest Man In India, This Architectural Malpractice Cost 1 Billion Dollars By The Way
Teutonic Disaster 2 hours ago
This looks like it is one medium strength earthquake away from toppeling over.
#9
This Building Trump Tower In New York City Is The Ugliest Building And Not Only Because Of The Owner
What you find beautiful is a matter of taste, sure. But that’s only true to a certain extent. Objectively speaking, there are obvious things not to do when it comes to architecture and design. Like making it clash with the architectural style and legacy of the area surrounding it. Or using overly risky designs or cheap materials that won’t stand the test of time.
Yes, it’s likely that no building will ever be universally praised, and there will always be critics. But intentionally creating divisive designs isn’t a good approach. That being said, you also don’t want to steer clear in the opposite direction with bland, boring, soulless designs that aren’t even a tiny bit memorable. Ideally, as a designer, you want to be bold without being brash.
#10
Instead Of Showing Actually Cool Building I'll Follow The Task, Mexico
Teutonic Disaster 2 hours ago
Question: How many building permits were violated during the erection of this monstrosity?
#11
These Student Housing Appartments In The Netherlands Are Quite Insulting
They look like the letters L U and L and spell literally the Dutch word for the male genitals.
#12
Elephant Building In Bangkok, Thailand
...it has three legs.
Whiskey Tango Delicious 47 minutes ago
My mind always giggles like a kid when I see the word Bangkok
Which of the buildings featured here do you personally think are the worst of the bunch? Or, were there any buildings that you genuinely liked due to how unique and quirky they were, despite them being divisive and controversial?
What, in your opinion, is the very worst architectural project in your hometown? What’s the best? Let us know! We’d love to hear your perspective in the comments.
#13
This Building In São Paulo. I Worked In It For A Month. It's Also Ugly Inside. It Just Looks... Wrong
#14
Crack Stacks. Minneapolis, MN
#15
Weymouth Street Student Accommodation (Australia). This Is The Ugliest Building In My City
#16
World Toilet Association, Located In Suwon, South Korea
#17
A Lot Of The Mixed Commercial-Residential Complexes In Taiwan Are Such Eye Sores
#18
Tokyo. I Think It's Pretty Ugly
#19
For Me Is This One In Buenos Aires City
It makes me think about the panopticon. Was showcase in the Eternaut TV show on Netflix.
#20
You Might Think This Is An Ugly Apartment Or Government Building. But In Fact It's A Pig Farm. A 26 Storey Pig Farm. Outputs 1 Million Pigs A Year
This one is ugly outside and also incredibly ugly and smelly inside. (China)
#21
The Ugliest Building In The Us Is Probably Simmons Hall, A Dormitory Building At The Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
#22
The Beehive, Wellington, New Zealand
Actually kinda hard to find a photo that does it justice, all the other photos don’t seem to capture the off yellow aged worn out artistic brutalist vibes.
It’s even worse because Wellington is such a pretty city next to the ocean, cradled by lush hills, with lots of quirky buildings. And then in the middle our parliament building is… this. And man, it wasn’t until I saw a thread like this that I found out other countries have impressive, aesthetically pleasing parliament buildings, tourist destinations! Tourists come to look at this, but I doubt they’d recommend it to their friends.
#23
Maybe Not The Whole Country, But This Building In Calgary Makes Me Irrationally Mad
#24
Boston City Hall Looks Like A Prison
Teutonic Disaster 2 hours ago
Would've expected such a brutalist klotz in places like North Korea or somewhere in the Balkans, but not anywhere.in the USA. Yikes 😵💫
#25
The Longanberger Basket Building Near Dresden, OH, USA
#26
In Japan, We Have The Asahi Buildings Which House The Asahi Breweries HQ
Next to the Asahi Beer Tower (which represents a tall glass of beer with white foam at the top) is Asahi Beer Hall.
The buildings were designed by the French architect Philippe Starck, and the golden thing atop the beer hall is supposed to be a golden flame (it’s official name is “Flamme d’Or” which is French for “Golden Flame.”)
#27
Salesforce Tower Is A Disgrace To The San Francisco Skyline
Impressive-Time8150:
Idk abt ugly... boring, definitely. That is just a shampoo bottle.
Oliver 2 hours ago
SFer here. It’s actually not that bad. This photo is from a weird angle, it’s taller than the Transamerica pyramid in reality. I prefer the pyramid personally but salesforce tower isn’t a blight on the skyline at all. The top section with the lights changes color and looks pretty slick.
#28
A Building At The Wellington International Airport Called The Rock
#29
Burj Al Babas Is An Abandoned Residential Development In Mudurnu, Turkey
#30
River North One In Denver, Colorado
The concept proposed a huge green space through the splits in a building. Might have worked if they didn't build it in a high desert.
#31
It'll Be A Contest Between All The Different Telstra Phone Exchanges In Our Major Cities. Here's The One On Kent Street In Sydney, Although The One On Exhibition Street In Melbourne Isn't Much Better
#32
Blues Point Tower In Sydney Is Generally Regarded As One Of The Ugliest In Australia
Some people will say the UTS Tower, but they just don’t know how to appreciate brutalist architecture.
#33
In Sweden, The Station Building Next To The Train Station
#34
What Could Be Worse Than A Grey Cube? A Grey Cube With Ugly Windows. Embassy Of The United States, London
#35
Nevigeser Wallfahrtsdom, Germany
Yes, it's a church, or more precisely, a pilgrimage church - built in 1968, in glorious concrete.
It's hard to find a good picture of it because it doesn't really have any photogenic angle to it.
persephone134 2 hours ago (edited)
I do wonder what people were thinking who waived the building of this monstrosity through.
#36
Fanum House In Belfast
You all are just pessimistic, image walking past this unimaginative mess everyday, sits empty and city won’t tear it down because of historical significance from what was told.
Colleen Glim 55 minutes ago
The problem with designating buildings as historical is that they stand empty because very few people want to take on the headache that is restoring them. The problem with not designating buildings historical is that they are torn down and we lose the history. It’s a difficult situation
#37
Hotel In Edinburgh, Scotland
For some reason someone approved this design and it’s visible to anyone in the city centre, the hot spot for every single tourist that visits the city. Looks like a massive jobby making its way up to the heavens.
#38
I Don't Know About The Rest Of The Country But Brisbane's Ugliest Is Probably The Parliamentary Annex
#39
The Domenig-House In Vienna, Austria
#40
I Bike Past These Every Day. Bjarke Ingels. The Idea On The Drawing With Turning Squares Seemed Great. But In Reality (Denmark)
#41
The Swan Bells Tower, Australia
Absolute meme of a building even though it's one of the few bell towers to have a complete set.
#42
The Orthodox Cathedral In Bucharest, Romania Fits Here
Why? It dwarfes everything around, it is disproportional and has been innaugurated in 2025 - so it just looks old, but isn’t. Also having golden shiny roofs makes my eyes hurt. Made out of tax / public funds.
#43
The Hq Of The People Liberation Army, Hong Kong
#44
The North Dakota State Capitol
#45
The New Embassy Here In The City Has To Be One Of The Single Ugliest Buildings I’ve Seen Built In Recent Years (Mexico)
Idk what’s worse, the brutalist aesthetic, the rusted metal decorations, or the fact that the architects had every tree on that street cut down and never replanted like they said they would.
#46
The Wrapper Office Building In Culver City, CA, Gets My Vote. It Looks Even Worse Close Up
#47
The Tour Montparnasse Is Ugly As Sin
Oskar vanZandt 1 hour ago
Making the exterior dark unlike all the other larger buildings makes it stick out like a sore thumb...
#48
I Despise The Thompson Center, Tennessee, USA
Mrs Irish Mom 1 hour ago
It looks like it not finished or it is finished and its just wrong and ugly
#49
This Is The Pentagon. It’s The Headquarters Of The US Department Of Defense
Oliver 2 hours ago
Fun facts: 1) it has twice as many bathrooms as it needs due to segregation even though Roosevelt ordered the bathrooms to be integrated when it finally opened. The plans were made long before that order so the extra bathrooms had already been planned for and built.. 2) it was meant to be temporary and demolished after WWII ended because nobody thought such a large building would be needed for the military. If they only knew…
#50
The Toilet Bowl Building, Virginia. USA
#52
We Did Have These Big Wool Bales In A Sheep Industry Heavy Town But They Got Demolished Due To Termite Damage (Australia)
#53
Bloor Dundas Square In Toronto
#54
The Queens Wharf Tower In Newcastle Australia
Not necessarily ugly but hilarious nonetheless, the Queens Wharf Tower in Newcastle Australia, and as you can see, why it's hilarious.
#55
This Abhorrent Attempt To Look Modern Is Where Our Congressmen Meet To Decide Our Future, Brazil
#56
All Of Those New Towers In Helsinki, Finland
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What do you think ?
Oskar vanZandt 1 hour ago
There's a fair few interesting architectural exemplars in this list but there are also more than a few monstrosities...
Oskar vanZandt 1 hour ago
There's a fair few interesting architectural exemplars in this list but there are also more than a few monstrosities...
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