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Thanks to blogger Hannes Coudenys and, of course, the architects themselves, Belgium has become notorious for its quirky buildings. In 2012, Coudenys decided to begin documenting the peculiarities of Belgian architecture on an Instagram account called 'Ugly Belgian Houses,' and it has drawn the attention of architecture design enthusiasts from all over the world.
But really, how hideously bizarre can a house design really be? Scroll down to check out the list of outrageously weird houses below, and let us know what you think in the comments!
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#1
"Architect: ‘What kind of windows would you like?’ Client: ‘Yes’"
Coudenys had noticed that for some reason, Belgians have a different understanding of what is good architecture and exterior design. So he decided that he had to share it with the world. "Normally, if you like architecture you like good houses, but in Belgium, there’s a lot of ugly houses. So I started taking pictures of it, " he told Bored Panda.
Coudenys explained that when it comes to house ideas, people in Belgium like to go against the flow. "Because regulations are quite liberal and we love to design our own quirky dreamhouse," he said.
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Despite rapidly gaining attention online with so many people left in awe of the uniqueness of the buildings, Coudenys admits that many house-owners were not pleased about their bad design homes facing scrutiny online. "I received emails from lawyers and eventually gave in, stopping the blog altogether. I can understand the negative reactions in a way... It's the house of their dreams and I am demolishing it! " he explained.
Luckily, he decided to relaunch his blog in 2013, although this time he encourages people to contact him directly if they are not pleased with seeing their house on the blog. Scroll below for the design fails of Ugly Belgian Architecture!
#4
"When u wanted to live in a fairytale but you chose to live in Shrek’s Swamp House"
#5
"Textures loading"
#7
"'No, your other left'"
Phoebe Bean 6 years ago
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who´s the fanciest house of them all??, Oh, me, me!"
#8
"When your architect fell asleep"
Marie-Louise Chenois 6 years ago
That's just an external look i think the place is actually straight. Or at least so i hope
Pieter Staes 6 years ago
This place is in Turnhout, Belgium. It used to be a bar called "Bronx".
Mascha Claessens 6 years ago
Haha, and it functions as student housing now, apparently? :')
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Myriam Ickx 6 years ago
It's a house that lets room to students (indicated on the triangular door on the left, in Flemish). So, I guess they thought it OK to have the ground floor (in Europe, we call it ground floor, not first floor) look a little bit funky. It's just the façade, inside it must be straight.
Trin Merrick 6 years ago
There is a room on the bottom floor for definite behind the windows on the left as you look at the photo. I went onto the website and it shows all the student rooms.
Wanderlust 6 years ago
I assumed a powerful outlined the exterior then angled so hard left, given headache to mortals
#10
"Windows not installed"
#11
"Architect: what do you want
Guy: legs of a lego man
Architect: say no more fam"
Aldhissla VargTimmen 6 years ago
Omg, this is in my hometown, the back of the other half goes into the air as well. They've been building this for years but are having problems and it's still not finished.
#12
"When you have a beautiful Belgian House but you really want to be on my website"
Kim Clarke 6 years ago
Perfect contrast! - Beautiful old architecture Vs We just can't be bovvered 😂
#14
"Nobody puts baby in a corner"
#15
"Welcome to my Shiteau!"
#16
"I NEED THAT EMOJI"
#18
"Looks like Frodo finally settled down in the suburbs"
Marie-Louise Chenois 6 years ago
That one looks actually pretty nice to me, except the stones taht look a bit dirty and could need a cleaning...It looks a bit sad like that
#21
"For that cosy under the bridge feeling"
#22
"When you didn’t know you had to bring your own roof"
#23
"NEIN NEIN NEIN"
#24
"When Belgians move"
Aahzmandus Pervect 6 years ago
There's always that one neighbor that must be different from the others, in a stupid kind of way.
#25
"Sink outside the box"
#27
"Total eclipse of the house"
First.time.in.Space 6 years ago
This is one of those "IS IT UGLY OR IS IT SO F*****G DEEPLY ARTISTIC THAT WE DONT GET IT..? SMILE AND PRETEND YOU GET IT HONEY.."
#28
"What where they checking uh... thinking?"
#29
"Zaha Hadid from the Aldi"
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Night Owl 6 years ago (edited)
I wouldn't say they're ALL ugly. ____ But they're certainly unique
Kenny Kulbiski 6 years ago
I liked quite a few of them. Even ugly is better than cookie cutter boring. Plus they could be spectacular insir.
Myriam Ickx 6 years ago
@Mascha Claessens, I bet you are Dutch and you don't like the Belgians. Right?
Load More Replies...
Eli Christman 6 years ago
Headed south on I-95, there was a shoe house on the right hand side in North Carolina, I think it was. It was locally famous and was lived in until the 70s or so by an old woman. It may have become a museum after that because I remember seeing it through the 80s and part of the 90s. I think it may be torn down by this point, but please don't hold me to that. I haven't driven south in years.
Load More Replies...
Eli Christman 6 years ago
I'm torn on that house that has few/no windows. On one hand, I want my home to have windows. On the other, I have black-out curtains on all my windows. ;-)
Load More Replies...
Phoebe Bean 6 years ago
It looks like they have a thing for houses with "expression" (eyes and mouth)...
btaglln 6 years ago
There are a lot of ugly houses in Belgium du to lack of uniformity in the rules of building and due to the fact that a lot of Belgian wants to build "their house". But just type "House Belgium" on google and you'll see beautiful houses, we have talented architects don't worry
Wil Vanderheijden 6 years ago
I love these houses. Much better than in my country where everything is regulated. When you want to build a house there are some lame civil servents that decide what you're allowed to build. Which kind of roof, the slope of the roof, the color of the roof, the bricks, the amount of windows, the size of the windows etc.etc. Just ridiculous.
Llamadrama 6 years ago
We just love building houses :D there is a saying here in Belgium that translates to 'every Flemming is born with a brick in his stomach'. (Flemming: from Flandria, Dutch speaking part of Belgium) Keep in mind that our houses are a lot different than the average American house. We build mostly with bricks and/or concrete (even the interior walls), we use awesome foundations, etc. And we like to do it ourselves :) we built our own house too. Took up to almost 5 years to finish, but we love it!
btaglln 6 years ago
The saying is "The Belgians have a brick in their stomach", it's not only related to Flemming, but also to Waloons ;)
Load More Replies...
tuzdayschild 6 years ago
If they pass a law stating you can't build drunk, I think it would solve a lot of this.
Janine B. 6 years ago
I'm surprised you get permission to build houses that don't fit the surrounding houses. Especially when built next to historic looking houses.
Betsy Zbiegiel 6 years ago
That's one of the many beauties of Belgium. There is actually a term that has been coined in architecture called "Bruxellisation" that describes the total mayhem of Brussels architecture :)
Load More Replies...
Raoul L'artiste 6 years ago (edited)
None of them are ugly. They are unique, special and beautiful
Roxanne Sterling-Falkenstein 2 years ago
Some are truly idyllic.. skinny farm house plot is a dream to me
Paolo De Vera 3 years ago
if you need fast financial help kindly contact Mr Paolo a private lender in USA contact email: paolodevera770@gmail.com welcome and note that this is a genuine offer.
Paolo De Vera 3 years ago
if you need fast financial help kindly contact Mr Paolo a private lender in USA contact email: paolodevera770@gmail.com welcome
Glynis Lailann 6 years ago
i think the Belgians put weed in their hot chocolate or whatever they were imbibing.
Katinka Min 6 years ago
I'm not sure what the problem is, here. Most of these are just unusual. If you want to see ugly, boring architecture come to Berlin and look at all the new builds: one grey, boring box after the other.
Elly Clifton 6 years ago
They definitely have a thing against windows. I'd love to see them from the inside.
Jenifer Cappello 6 years ago
Some of these houses would be great as settings for mysterious supernatural fantasy type novels.
Teree Tart 6 years ago
Wow these are amazingly weird! I love them, it's good to see such unique buildings. You would never get away with anything like them here in Britain, everyone is so uptight and boring, generally speaking that is..... The local council planning departments. ;-)
frederic eeckman 6 years ago
I had to ask for a freaking permit just to change the COLOR or my house when they did the insulation, so no, we don't have "liberal regulations", it's actually the opposite :/
Peter Kovak 6 years ago
Let's not forget that Belgium lacks architectural supervising (like the Netherlands for instance), so you may build (more or less) whatever you want. You can see almost everywhere the lack of harmony between stiles of close buildings and, not seldom, the complete lack of good taste.
Llamadrama 6 years ago
Well, taste is questionable, right? And we do have areas where all the houses are built in the same style. But most regulations are about height, type of roof, slope of the roof, ... not about the style you choose.
Load More Replies...
Mascha Claessens 6 years ago
I'm from the Netherlands, travel to Belgium almost every day (by train). And, especially if you're travelling by car, you always just know when you have crossed the border: A) the roads are way more crappy, B) the houses are UGLY AS HELL (most of these are kinda funny, but most houses are just plain ugly and depressing), and C) 70 km/h roads right through towns, like right in front of people's front doors. But it's a nice country anyway. Especially the cities (AND BEER) are nice :)
Llamadrama 6 years ago
I agree with you on the crappy roads thing :p but we have some of the worlds best architecture and interior design, so I definitly wouldn't call all our houses ugly :D and most of all, we put a lot of love into building it...
Load More Replies... 
Betsy Zbiegiel 6 years ago
Why would you call them ugly ? Just because it's a different style of architecture than what you have in the US ? These are just Belgian style houses. Educate yourself.
Llamadrama 6 years ago
Euhm, Bored Panda didn't name them that. The Belgian guy who started the series did...
Load More Replies...
Tahani 6 years ago
Where in Belgium where those pics taken? I'm in West-Vlaanderen and haven't seen any of those whack houses yet. Some are normal like pic 2 (really old houses), but aside from that.... nope
Chloe Ross 6 years ago
They are atrocious. All of them. They are ugly and out of place and is it the same 'architect'. Arrest him or her.
Meow 6 years ago
Guys, don't downvote him. It's TJler's new account because he was banned from the last two//three. He's just asking for downvotes. Remember, upvote
Load More Replies... Night Owl 6 years ago (edited)
I wouldn't say they're ALL ugly. ____ But they're certainly unique
Kenny Kulbiski 6 years ago
I liked quite a few of them. Even ugly is better than cookie cutter boring. Plus they could be spectacular insir.
Myriam Ickx 6 years ago
@Mascha Claessens, I bet you are Dutch and you don't like the Belgians. Right?
Load More Replies... Eli Christman 6 years ago
Headed south on I-95, there was a shoe house on the right hand side in North Carolina, I think it was. It was locally famous and was lived in until the 70s or so by an old woman. It may have become a museum after that because I remember seeing it through the 80s and part of the 90s. I think it may be torn down by this point, but please don't hold me to that. I haven't driven south in years.
Load More Replies... Eli Christman 6 years ago
I'm torn on that house that has few/no windows. On one hand, I want my home to have windows. On the other, I have black-out curtains on all my windows. ;-)
Load More Replies... Phoebe Bean 6 years ago
It looks like they have a thing for houses with "expression" (eyes and mouth)...
btaglln 6 years ago
There are a lot of ugly houses in Belgium du to lack of uniformity in the rules of building and due to the fact that a lot of Belgian wants to build "their house". But just type "House Belgium" on google and you'll see beautiful houses, we have talented architects don't worry
Wil Vanderheijden 6 years ago
I love these houses. Much better than in my country where everything is regulated. When you want to build a house there are some lame civil servents that decide what you're allowed to build. Which kind of roof, the slope of the roof, the color of the roof, the bricks, the amount of windows, the size of the windows etc.etc. Just ridiculous.
Llamadrama 6 years ago
We just love building houses :D there is a saying here in Belgium that translates to 'every Flemming is born with a brick in his stomach'. (Flemming: from Flandria, Dutch speaking part of Belgium) Keep in mind that our houses are a lot different than the average American house. We build mostly with bricks and/or concrete (even the interior walls), we use awesome foundations, etc. And we like to do it ourselves :) we built our own house too. Took up to almost 5 years to finish, but we love it!
btaglln 6 years ago
The saying is "The Belgians have a brick in their stomach", it's not only related to Flemming, but also to Waloons ;)
Load More Replies... tuzdayschild 6 years ago
If they pass a law stating you can't build drunk, I think it would solve a lot of this.
Janine B. 6 years ago
I'm surprised you get permission to build houses that don't fit the surrounding houses. Especially when built next to historic looking houses.
Betsy Zbiegiel 6 years ago
That's one of the many beauties of Belgium. There is actually a term that has been coined in architecture called "Bruxellisation" that describes the total mayhem of Brussels architecture :)
Load More Replies... Raoul L'artiste 6 years ago (edited)
None of them are ugly. They are unique, special and beautiful
Roxanne Sterling-Falkenstein 2 years ago
Some are truly idyllic.. skinny farm house plot is a dream to me
Paolo De Vera 3 years ago
if you need fast financial help kindly contact Mr Paolo a private lender in USA contact email: paolodevera770@gmail.com welcome and note that this is a genuine offer.
Paolo De Vera 3 years ago
if you need fast financial help kindly contact Mr Paolo a private lender in USA contact email: paolodevera770@gmail.com welcome
Glynis Lailann 6 years ago
i think the Belgians put weed in their hot chocolate or whatever they were imbibing.
Katinka Min 6 years ago
I'm not sure what the problem is, here. Most of these are just unusual. If you want to see ugly, boring architecture come to Berlin and look at all the new builds: one grey, boring box after the other.
Elly Clifton 6 years ago
They definitely have a thing against windows. I'd love to see them from the inside.
Jenifer Cappello 6 years ago
Some of these houses would be great as settings for mysterious supernatural fantasy type novels.
Teree Tart 6 years ago
Wow these are amazingly weird! I love them, it's good to see such unique buildings. You would never get away with anything like them here in Britain, everyone is so uptight and boring, generally speaking that is..... The local council planning departments. ;-)
frederic eeckman 6 years ago
I had to ask for a freaking permit just to change the COLOR or my house when they did the insulation, so no, we don't have "liberal regulations", it's actually the opposite :/
Peter Kovak 6 years ago
Let's not forget that Belgium lacks architectural supervising (like the Netherlands for instance), so you may build (more or less) whatever you want. You can see almost everywhere the lack of harmony between stiles of close buildings and, not seldom, the complete lack of good taste.
Llamadrama 6 years ago
Well, taste is questionable, right? And we do have areas where all the houses are built in the same style. But most regulations are about height, type of roof, slope of the roof, ... not about the style you choose.
Load More Replies... Mascha Claessens 6 years ago
I'm from the Netherlands, travel to Belgium almost every day (by train). And, especially if you're travelling by car, you always just know when you have crossed the border: A) the roads are way more crappy, B) the houses are UGLY AS HELL (most of these are kinda funny, but most houses are just plain ugly and depressing), and C) 70 km/h roads right through towns, like right in front of people's front doors. But it's a nice country anyway. Especially the cities (AND BEER) are nice :)
Llamadrama 6 years ago
I agree with you on the crappy roads thing :p but we have some of the worlds best architecture and interior design, so I definitly wouldn't call all our houses ugly :D and most of all, we put a lot of love into building it...
Load More Replies... Betsy Zbiegiel 6 years ago
Why would you call them ugly ? Just because it's a different style of architecture than what you have in the US ? These are just Belgian style houses. Educate yourself.
Llamadrama 6 years ago
Euhm, Bored Panda didn't name them that. The Belgian guy who started the series did...
Load More Replies... Tahani 6 years ago
Where in Belgium where those pics taken? I'm in West-Vlaanderen and haven't seen any of those whack houses yet. Some are normal like pic 2 (really old houses), but aside from that.... nope
Chloe Ross 6 years ago
They are atrocious. All of them. They are ugly and out of place and is it the same 'architect'. Arrest him or her.
Meow 6 years ago
Guys, don't downvote him. It's TJler's new account because he was banned from the last two//three. He's just asking for downvotes. Remember, upvote
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