Belgian Guy Documents Ugly Houses He Sees And They’re So Bad, It’s Hilarious (30 New Pics)
Interview With Author
Let’s talk architecture and let's talk Belgium. What do these two things have in common? Well, you probably need no introduction of Belgium being a land of architectural wonder, with several shifts in design throughout its history creating a rich cross-section of European heritage and design. From Art Nouveau to modernism, the country is known for nailing its architecture.
Except we’re talking the other side of the coin—”Ugly Belgian Houses”—an enigmatic, humorous and eccentric project run by Hannes Coudenys. The project is dedicated entirely to the uglier the better buildings, dwellings, and all kinds of roofs over one’s head.
With 139k Instagram followers, “Ugly Belgian Houses” follows the motto which reads “Better to be ugly than to be boring,” and you can totally see why. But still, don’t try this at home, everyone!
Psst! After you’re done, be sure to check out our previous posts with Belgian architectural mishaps and faux pas here and here.
More info: Instagram | Facebook | UglyBelgianHouses.tumblr.com
This post may include affiliate links.
Hmm
Tried To Call The Architect For An Explanation But He Was Bus-Y
Residence Evil
To find out more about “Ugly Belgian Houses” and how it evolved since we last featured the project a year ago, Bored Panda talked to its creator Hannes Coudenys. Hannes is a media personality with many projects, from owning Hurae creative digital studio to running “Ugly Belgian Houses” and “Like My Ride,” to vlogging on YouTube.
Hannes told us that “Ugly Belgian Houses” has amazingly evolved throughout the year, amassing 139k followers. “I have been visiting a lot of the houses and had some really nice conversations.”
“Meanwhile I am working on a second edition of the book, so I have to call all the owners again,” Hannes said and added “I’ve just had a call with two people who hate me and don’t want their house in my book. I can understand that,” he smiled.
The Ugly Belgian House Is Slowly Wrapping Around Its Prey
I Want To Brick Free
They Recently Discovered The Great Garage Of Giza
When asked why “Ugly Belgian Houses” has gained almost a cult following online, Hannes believes it comes down to “The fact that we all have a certain opinion on what makes a house beautiful. Or ugly. And the fact that these opinions are only opinions.”
The author added that it seems like a lot of Belgians agree that “we have a lot of ugly Belgian houses.”
When asked about the slogan “Better to be ugly than to be boring,” which greets users on the project's Instagram page, Hannes said that “In Belgium, you have a lot of suburbs and housing projects that all look the same and are in fact very boring.” He added: “Something you see in Holland as well. I prefer ugly than these boring creatures.”
Hannes would describe a typical ugly Belgian house as something with “its own quirky uniqueness; A special roof, a special stone, a special decoration, we want to express ourselves via our house.”
Minimalism In Belgium
Neighbors, Everybody Needs Goth Neighbors
So Where Is Your Architect? Over The Top
Cut My House Into Pieces
It Is In The Darkness That One Finds The Sh**e
Purple Pain
When You’ve Seen The Trailer And You Know The Movie Sucks
Just Another Brick In The Wall
Peak #uglybelgianhouses
Door-E Is That You?
Mummy, I’m Home
Statue Of Misery
Haters Will Say It’s Photoshop
(Turn Around) Every Now And Then I Get A Little Bit Tired Of These Houses
Is This The Real Life?
Optihouse Prime
Can transform itself into a normal-looking house but chooses not to
Is This A New Jacquemus Purse?
Now That’s A Mancave
lol it looks like it's a wink to Massabielle grotto ( a catholic pilgrimage place in the French pyrénées) 612206-gro...2be8b4.jpg 
Ready For The Third Wave
Allows you to feel seasick without the inconvenience of being on water
S**tamid
Some Houses Never Grow Up
From The Movie Finding Doory
Black & Why?te
Now They’ve Gone Too Farao
Yes, the rooms are a weird shape but you'll stay young for all eternity
I Believe I Can Cry
Robokot
About the caption: "kot" is Flemish (Belgian Dutch) for shed. (in an other context it can also mean student room)
Cut My House In To Pieces This Is My Last Carport
Nice Trick To Sell Your Ugly Belgian House
At Least The Architect Made His Point
Welcome In The Neighborhoodie
The expensive alternative to simply buying blinds for your bedroom window
Luke, I Am Your House
Moved Back In With My Parents
Clap Along If You Feel Like A Roof Without A Room
A Game Of Sh*tris
I'm intrigued by the broken glass panel in the front door. Burglars trying to get in or owner desperate to get out?
I Visited One Of The Houses For Eenbe
A little bit of context: the creator of "Ugly Belgian Houses" has a part in a show on Belgian tv channel "Eén" where he visits people to ask them to react to their house being featured on his blog.
Frank Lloyd Wrong
Caption This
Yellow. It Ain't Me You're Looking For
5 Steps To The Left, 5 Steps To The Right, Slide Real Smooth
This Is My Church, This Is Where I Hurt My Heels
Clap Along If You Feel Like A Room Without A Roof
Don’t Think Out Of The Box. Just Get Rid Of This Box
The Roof, The Roof, The Roof Was On Fire
I’m Flabberhousted
When Your Door Want Its Own House
Ugly? Sink Again
I Don’t Understand
Designed In Autocad
Blinded By The Stair Of Flights
Housenumber 69
Where Is The Ski Lift Please?
Caption This
Say what you want, in Belgium people have the freedom to build their houses exactly like they want it to be. In the Netherlands there are about 923 000 rules and regulations to follow when you want to design and build your own house to keep just as much civil servants busy who all are searching for something to annoy the hell out of you. "Sir, you have permission to build with white bricks, but this white is too white, you have to tear it down or paint it in the approved white." "Sir, you've painted your house white, but that's too white. Remove the paint."
Belgians seem to forget to build the rest of the house…a lot
Lol, this guy hasn't been to Russia for sure. There are whole ugly cities
We do have some very unattractive houses here. The up-side compared to America tho, is that when it’s windy ours do stay upstanding.
Is anyone else cringing at each introduction? Seriously BP, sometimes there are no words needed!
I actually liked quite a few of these. Perhaps the interior design of some of them was responsible for the unorthodox exterior. Whatever the reason, " not my circus, not my monkey. "
Every Belgian builds his own house and no two are the same. I don't think there are any rules, just do what you want.
To be honest, couple of these have strong art deco vibes and I don't understand why they are on this list at all. Also. Some I would have preferred to see from another angle.
Say what you want, in Belgium people have the freedom to build their houses exactly like they want it to be. In the Netherlands there are about 923 000 rules and regulations to follow when you want to design and build your own house to keep just as much civil servants busy who all are searching for something to annoy the hell out of you. "Sir, you have permission to build with white bricks, but this white is too white, you have to tear it down or paint it in the approved white." "Sir, you've painted your house white, but that's too white. Remove the paint."
Belgians seem to forget to build the rest of the house…a lot
Lol, this guy hasn't been to Russia for sure. There are whole ugly cities
We do have some very unattractive houses here. The up-side compared to America tho, is that when it’s windy ours do stay upstanding.
Is anyone else cringing at each introduction? Seriously BP, sometimes there are no words needed!
I actually liked quite a few of these. Perhaps the interior design of some of them was responsible for the unorthodox exterior. Whatever the reason, " not my circus, not my monkey. "
Every Belgian builds his own house and no two are the same. I don't think there are any rules, just do what you want.
To be honest, couple of these have strong art deco vibes and I don't understand why they are on this list at all. Also. Some I would have preferred to see from another angle.
