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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’"
Sergio Bicerra Descalzi 6 years ago
When u find a lot of mismatshed legos and try to build something
pseudosapien 6 years ago
I always wondered what the outside of the MC Esher drawing looked like.
Craig Silberman 6 years ago
ugly? that one's damn cool, and I'll bet it looks amazing on the inside
Wanderlust 6 years ago
The builders must've hated making these, but possibly satisfied of getting rid of the leftover windows from previous homes
Max L. 6 years ago
if you see workers laying apparently sleeping on the floor, just get out.
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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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#2
"FELIX DA HOUSECAT"
Ellie Ragsdale 6 years ago
Nice pun. I wonder if that was intentional on the creator's part.
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Gunther Huits 6 years ago
The 'nose' is an anchorage you see often in old marl houses. Without them the walls would crumble after a while. But thé placement here is cute and funny.
#3
"Game of Stones"
diane a 6 years ago
Backside is the wrong word. Think it should be "rear". Backside reminds me of gibbons
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Jason Dykas 6 years ago
When the Nothing swallowed Fantasia the Rock Crusher found a new home.
Not-so-MadMax 6 years ago
It's a zoo.. But even if it wasn't, I'd live there. Look at the size of the human sized door! It must be gianormous inside.
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"
MN Free Spirit 6 years ago
OK I kinda want this one, I live in a townhouse and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY NEIGHBORS LOOK LIKE MY HOUSE!
Connie Martin 6 years ago
In California this would be called a Storybook house. Maybe in Belgium too. I love it.
#5
"Textures loading"
sarwo ajie perdana triputra 6 years ago
That's what you get if you only managed to pay the architect 50% down payment.
#6
"Say Cheese!"
Marie-Louise Chenois 6 years ago
me too! It looks really nice. Must have been fairly expensive though....
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Myriam Ickx 6 years ago
Indeed. It made me think of a sort of modernized, larger hobbit house!
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The Slinkman 6 years ago (edited)
Bilbo left the shire to go live in the land of the frietekes en de pattatekes so it seems
#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!"
Cat Mac 6 years ago
No Windows on the facing sides. Well, I guess it would make it easier for joint custody of the kids.
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Ben Churchill 6 years ago
The magician never could figure out how to put them back together again.
Cactuar Jon 6 years ago
It's like someone had an argument and took half of the house in the other direction lol
#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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#9
"CUT MY HOUSE IN TO PIECES THIS IS MY LAST CARPORT"
Marie-Louise Chenois 6 years ago
So much space lost....Would have been nice to have a full 1st floor^^
#10
"Windows not installed"
Marie-Louise Chenois 6 years ago
DLC that you require to play the game but you learn about it only after you decided not to buy the season pass
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KEBI Photography 6 years ago
sorry, your house ran into a problem. the reason why? windows failed to load.
#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.
STress the Terrible 6 years ago
They're having problems??? You don't say... 😂
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Susann Campbell 6 years ago
Daddy is coming home ! Everyone over to the other side of the house and pick up the dog !
Aunt Messy 6 years ago
This is a fabulous house. The interiors are amazing. The neighbours are miffed because it’s designed deliberately so they can’t peer into the house.
#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 😂
Ms Phit 6 years ago
Exactly what I first thought. The ew is strong with this one! Ruined a beautiful cluster of architecture by plopping a pile of garbage on top.the city never should have allowed this
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JeannevB 6 years ago
I remember when these were real houses in Oostende and the whole block was for sale. I supose a big contractor bought the whole block, then realized he wasn't allowed to demolish the facades. It is creative, but ugly. Now, to find any beautiful new buildings on the Belgian coast you are going to have to look hard.
Mascha Claessens 6 years ago
Ahhhh, of course it's Oostende. :") The coast is all like: "Ahhh, Dutch coast, pretty dunes, sandy beaches, nice cafes! Some pretty nature! Ah, now we're crossing the boarder with Belgium. All concrete, ugly appartment buildings. Some tiny dunes in between. More grey concrete. Ah, we're crossing the boarder with France! And gone is all the concrete." I really like Belgium, but the coast is just... weird. :P
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Marie-Louise Chenois 6 years ago
That's the same house? To me it looks more like the big building is behind no?
John Napier 6 years ago
Agreed. Its great they kept the old front of a historic building. They do this a lot in Chicago. Nice example
#13
"When you’re on a field trip and you loose the rest of your group"
Elizabeth 6 years ago
This really looks as though it was once a row of townhouses and this is just the last one still standing
Maia Choat 6 years ago
When an investor buys out your neighbours but you're just one stubborn b***h
Load More Replies... Susann Campbell 6 years ago
Come to think of it, this is the other half of the house with the car port.
Susann Campbell 6 years ago
Insurance only cover enough for just half a house from the disaster .
Llamadrama 6 years ago
Actually this is really common here in Belgium. People buy a lot for a detached home. According to building regulations you HAVE to build a detached house. So when the adjacent lot hasn't been built on yet, you get this funny view.
Lizzie the Crayon 6 years ago
Literally field...and I guess the builders tripped and knocked down the other half...
#14
"Nobody puts baby in a corner"
John Montgomery 6 years ago
It does make me think of the old Disney cartoon.
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#15
"Welcome to my Shiteau!"
Marie-Louise Chenois 6 years ago
Not the best taste ever but clearly not bad and i would like to live in there....Wich requires me to work for yet 879 years. Good.
glowworm2 6 years ago
This one's actually not that bad. I especially like the multicolored roof.
Susann Campbell 6 years ago
I like this one , even the red barn doors for the motor home and Suv. This is a fun place to live if you had servants to keep the house clean. Yeah
#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
Doodlebug 6 years ago
Not just the lawn. It needs some trees, bushes, flowers.....something.
Load More Replies... Craig Silberman 6 years ago
oooooh, this is another that shouldn't be in an article about "ugly houses" it looks great, and the view from inside is probably spectacular
RacconLifeGirlie 6 years ago
Yep he sure as heck. And modeled it after his uncle's, but more modern.
#19
"Malebox"
madapult 6 years ago
wellll middle fingers are also supposed to look like something else...
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#20
Mascha Claessens 6 years ago
There's one thing I've always hated about Belgian houses. I seriously remember hating this as a little kid when we were driving through Belgium. THOSE FREAKING UGLY WHITE/GREY TILES ON ONE OR TWO SIDES OF THE HOUSE THAT ARE ALWAYS LOOKING DIRTY. UHGGG. x'D Someone once told me it's to protect the house from the rain, but it rains just as much in the neighbouring country where I live, and we don't need those freaking tiles. :P
#21
"For that cosy under the bridge feeling"
Sugar Latte 6 years ago
Oh NOW we know where all those internet trolls live!! 🤣
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#22
"When you didn’t know you had to bring your own roof"
Monika Soffronow 6 years ago
You've got to believe me, the roof eater is real, I saw it with my own eyes!
Godelieve Streulens 6 years ago
When the building restrictions only give you maximum dimensions and forget to tell you the roof is mandatory.
#23
"NEIN NEIN NEIN"
Ang.stl 6 years ago
I was just thinking my mailman & ups and fedex make me want to do this but my house number is 5 numbers long. It would get real messy, real fast!!
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The Slinkman 6 years ago
When your mail constantly gets dilevered at the neighbors caus de mailman can't find your house ;)
#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.
QueenOlive 6 years ago
So I live on a dead end street and all the houses are red brick and some kind of neutral siding, so they all go nicely together. Two years ago someone decided to build a BARN in the middle of the street. A red BARN.
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#26
"What did one pyramid say to the other?
– How’s your mummy!"
MN Free Spirit 6 years ago
Does it snow there? because its an awesome design if you get a lot of snow. If not then I too am confused as to why?
Charlotte Nordset 6 years ago
yes good for the roof, but living in Norway I immediately see a huge problem of getting snowed in as all the snow would pile up outside the door. But of course this is belgium so I'm guessing snowy weather is more like 10-15 cm a few times per year, not 50-70 cm every night for weeks on end, lol
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Kururi.Orihara 6 years ago
The rest of the house sunk into the ground. You can only access by roof
TheKnightOwl 6 years ago
I thought a-frame houses weren't all that uncommon..? I mean, I know the roofline is lower than the average a-frame, but it's not that unusual.
#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.."
Llamadrama 6 years ago
I bet the other side of this house is an entire glass wall. Pretty common here in Belgium. It's mostly for privacy purposes. Like when your house sits really close to the street and you don't want people to be able to look inside...
Load More Replies... GroovyDude18 6 years ago (edited)
When the architect forgets that roof paneling isn't the only building material
Id row 6 years ago
At least you can walk around naked and not worry about people seeing you from the street.
#28
"What where they checking uh... thinking?"
Step Twirl 6 years ago
The disconnect with the separate out door potty .. they apparently are fading out into some alternate reality .. where no one want to go
Jack Urquhart 6 years ago
So you're the guy on the left and you are trying to sell your house...
The Slinkman 6 years ago
Ugly house? Check! Looks unfinished? Check! You are now the most hated guy in the neighborhood? CHECKMATE!
First.time.in.Space 6 years ago
WOAHH! I SAW A HOUSE LIKE THIS IN AUSTRIA LAST SUMMER! It looked amazing IRL. A bit confusing. Next to McDonalds.
#29
"Zaha Hadid from the Aldi"
egracec 6 years ago
I'd have said the 80's, I can totally see some big hair, big shoulder pad cheesy couple walking out of that.
Load More Replies... Suzanne Clark 6 years ago
Actually, I kinda like that...it's certainly better than the mess next door with the scrubs growing out of the gutter.
Kim Clarke 6 years ago
1 next door would be beautiful; just needs the gutter clearing out, bit've basic maintenance.
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Helen Hagerty 6 years ago
This is my favourite so far: I actually really like it. I quite like at least half of them!
#30
"Special discount: buy two get nothing for free"
Ang.stl 6 years ago
They might have sky lights at the top point. I can only tell there is something shiny up there.
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Susann Campbell 6 years ago
Saw this on U tube the house is under ground. and WoW what a house.
Christopher Columbus 6 years ago
When you are trying to recreate the Louvre, but can only afford the L...
Marie Watkins Crocker 6 years ago
They wanted the pyramids but didn't have the tax farmers for the labour.
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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?
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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.
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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. ;-)
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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.
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.
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