“That’s It, I’m Architecture Shaming”: 30 Buildings That Look So Bad, People Just Had To Shame Them
InterviewArchitects have given us the most gorgeous and impressive creations throughout history, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral, or more recent wonders like The Guggenheim and the Sydney Opera House. However, architects also create some real doozies sometimes.
In these cases, their creations usually end up in the "That's It, We're Architecture Shaming" group. From weird commercial buildings to uninviting homes, this group has everything. Bizarre-looking and serving no functional purpose? Shameworthy! So, if you're looking to have a laugh at some of the most ridiculous and aesthetically infuriating buildings, this is the right place!
Bored Panda got in touch with the group's administrator, social marketing specialist and media master Alicia Mariah Elfving. She kindly agreed to tell us more about the inception of the group and how buildings that get shamed the most can be great conversation starters. Read her thoughts below!
More info: That's It, We're Architecture Shaming | Alicia Elfving | The Moto Lady | Women's Moto Show
This post may include affiliate links.
Here is a classic Michigan architectural gem - the Ypsilanti Water Tower.. AKA the Brick D*ck!
It just needs a "mouth" at about the level of the flag poles. There, fixed it for you.
All it needs is 2 round bushes on the sides & a water fountain on top 🤭
creat articl! Please visit our website: https://www.univ-msila.dz/site/gtu-ar/
The group's administrator, Alicia, tells us that the "That's It, We're Architecture" shaming is a second iteration of the iconic "That's It, I'm Architecture Shaming" group on Facebook. "I got a lot of joy out of looking at the hilarious snarky commentary and ugly buildings," she tells us.
"Then one day my comments were getting declined. They didn't say why, but I was guessing maybe the term 'ugly' was no longer allowed, so I re-wrote my comment. Long story short, the group became overrun by spammers, bots, and scam-type profiles. People were reposting spam posts that had reposted themselves... like a robot spam inception."
"So, I saw the writing on the wall and created a new group called 'That's It, We're Architecture Shaming' to give people who really loved the old group, like me, a place to resurrect the amusing content we once loved," Alicia recounts.
Alicia tells us that while the group's primary goal is to make people laugh, true architecture lovers come here as well. "The more time you spend in the group, the more you see how invested people are in these buildings. Architects, architecture lovers, photographers... people can be really passionate," she explains.
Windows, windows everywhere! Chata Otulina - Radków, Poland (rental property close to a national park)
A lot of windows is lovely, especially by a national park, but why so much variation in the height they're placed at?
Somehow I pictured Telemain's house as more than one story...and not white.
"Hardwick Hall, More Glass Than Wall" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardwick_Hall#:~:text=The%20windows%20are%20exceptionally%20large,without%20weakening%20the%20exterior%20walls.
Yall I found another interior thing why do people put carpet in bathrooms or anywhere in houses. please burn it with fire, why does this bath tub have the bed posts on it so many whys…
My wife would probably like the idea of a canopied bathtub--I wouldn't have gone with the wooden risers, though. But wall to wall carpeting all the way up the sides of the tub? Just no, no, no, no ...
So, what makes a building truly shame-worthy? Alicia thinks it depends on the person. "The more 'out there' a design is, the more it elicits an emotional response. So, usually, buildings that are unique and different get the most shame, just because they give everyone something to talk about. They're real conversation starters."
Alicia also tells Bored Panda that groups like "That's It, We're Architecture Shaming" are a great way for people to be exposed to other opinions. Perhaps it can even change the way people think about architecture.
"[It gives] people an opportunity to explore people's opinions on topics outside their usual echo chamber. That means they have more opportunities to see things from other cultures and perspectives... and for that, I think, it's changed it for the better. Maybe not a lot, but a little better is good, right?"
The Selfridges Building in Birmingham, England.
No offence meant, but does it remind anyone else of a Bang and Olufsen speaker with an unplugged power cord (the indent above the walkway looks like a port)?
I’ve made these houses into memes before because, well, look at them! So full of personality. So much to shame or love, depending on your personal tastes.
It's the Emo death-metal dude with his My Little Pony-loving cheerleader girlfriend.
Got shown this in class today on what not to do.
I've seen this photo a lot. I'd love to know the story behind it. There has to be a resolution to it because there is no way this works and I fail to understand how it would have even been approved.
Snopes dug into it (or stole it from someone else, idk, I've heard stories). Anyway: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/steep-driveway-photos/
Load More Replies...Me unloading groceries from the car while the garage door closes and get sued for letting loose a 2 liter soda missile
We can all point and laugh at what we think are ugly buildings and houses. But what does make architecture bad? Aaron Betsky, columnist for Architect Magazine, claims that today, good architecture should be sustainable, functional, enhancing, and, of course, beautiful.
"Architecture should be neither weird nor boring, neither alien nor alienating, neither wasteful nor wanting in the qualities that make us human," he writes. "I think that we rather, first, have to ask the question in all cases: 'Do we really need more buildings?'"
I wonder if his wife is a quilter.
Building on a budget? Buy remainders and patch them together like this. Person even managed to make it aesthetic. Good on them!
I worked at a thrift store that sold shingles to people just trying to make it work. Good on them
Load More Replies...“His wife??” Who is “he”?? Oh, wait: Only men can own houses, or re-roof them.
And only women can quilt, apparently.
Load More Replies...If the rest of the building and landscaping had been more inviting, this could have been whimsical!
In Leytonstone, east London, UK
The couple who owns the garden ultimately decided to plant some trees and hide the window.
Erect a giant weird sculpture in front of the window that obscures their view. Like a giant disembodied Ronald McDonald head staring into their bedroom or something.
...with light coming out of its eyes into the bedroom.
Load More Replies...Came here to say the same thing. You must have known it was there when you viewed the house. It's hard to miss. Bit like buying a house next to an airport then complaining because the planes are too loud.
Make sure to get a tree that drops sap like mad. It'll adhere nicely to those windows.
But not only it ruins the aesthetic of their neighbors garden, it just looks horrendous on the house!!
Also worth checking how high you are allowed to build the back wall, you might be able to entirely cover the window.
I have no words.
I used to work with an old guy who was always muttering to himself. Once I walked past him while he was quietly muttering “there was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children that her uterus fell out and she fúcking died.” 😂😂 I just kept walking lmao
Load More Replies...Cute and funny, and sure to be a much-loved landmark for families whose journeys take them past. No shame needed - in a world where 97.8% of architecture is pure mediocrity at best, there's room for some whimsy, even if it's not precisely tasteful.
And, at least the windows aren't all w***y nilly.
Load More Replies...This is near me in PA. It was built a long time ago by a shoe maker/merchant for his family. It's now available for rent on VRBO.
No need to shame them. The original owner was quite a shoe salesman. He built his shoe empire to include 40 stores in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Quite interesting history behind the Haines Shoe House https://www.ydr.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/05/10/whats-up-huge-shoe-route-30-column/84190504/
According to Arch Daily, good architecture needs to have a purpose. It needs to serve its environment, spatial, and human factors. The magazine claims that we should build infrastructures because we need them, not just because we can. "A considerate project is one that is both supportive and nurturing—of people, of place, and of society."
House I pass every time I visit my parents- it’s on a busy road, hence the Google Maps pic. Was built a couple years ago and they’ve since added some plants… as you can surely visualize, that helps none.
They are prepared to defend against invading Saxons, or something...
Pretty sure I’d trip on these steps every single time.
If there's another doorway at a 90° angle on the left I can maybe understand it; otherwise this is a Mr. Bean sketch waiting to happen.
Even if there is another door in that angle, there was a better way to line the stairs up to both entries without creating this accident waiting to happen.
Load More Replies...I’d trip and somehow knock all those vases off the shelves. (Do y’all pronounce it vase or vase?)
Vase, but with some Spanish accent, so I actually pronounce it as vase.
Load More Replies...Need some heritage window frames replaced? No worries, call these guys!
Well they get points for not removing the exterior pieces that make it a historic building, or make it fit with the neighborhood, etc. However, they wanted to be able to open the window and the old type of windows were a style that could not be opened. In order to both meet building code because these new ones look like they're storm proof, and also not change the exterior aesthetic, they ended up with this look. I don't think this is an architecture fail, I think this is someone wanting to upgrade the inside of their house without changing the outside and making the best choice that they could.
To an outsider, the world of architecture may seem unproblematic and borderline boring. However, they do have their fair share of Kanyes—revered architects so controversial that their peers and critics hated some of their buildings with a passion. Or, more accurately, the buildings themselves became the Kanyes. Some of them we've learned to love, others... well, they're still standing, so maybe we will someday?
This abomination of a driveway.
What's dumb is that it took me waaay too long to figure out what was wrong with this picture!
Load More Replies...I think it's cause the cement is wet, so it's just stopping people from driving onto it
Load More Replies...So much horror. Is the house leaning too or am I seeing it weird because my eyeballs are trying to run away from this picture?
At the Rasskazovka Metro station in Moscow, as captured by a passerby in August 2018
I can tell you exactly how this happened. Contractor to Designer: "Hey the drawing is wrong and will block entrance/egress." Designer: "My drawings can't be wrong, build to print." Contractor: "ok."
Could've cut those railing sections and mounted them directly to the door.
A really wonky building somewhere in Russia.
Looks like the treehouse I built as a kid............minus the tree.
Looks like the Winchester Mystery House, but on a budget
Load More Replies...They found a really good sale at a window store going out of business.
Did you know that people originally hated the Eiffel Tower? Upon its completion in 1889, Parisians called it a "tragic giant lamppost," "iron monster," and "watchtower skeleton." Writer Guy de Maupassant claimed to like only its ground floor. "It's the only place in Paris where I can eat and not see that hideous tower," he said.
They should have made the stairs a tongue.
the same house is featured in another BP Halloween decorations themed gallery as something creative
Not seeing any bad architecture, just great use of architectural features for Halloween decorations.
Part of the brick ceiling was chipped away to make room for the stair railing. It's so narrow that one must cling to the center of the spiral staircase to avoid brushing up against the brick as you go up or down. There's a single light at the top, and no light switch for it downstairs.
We had something similar in our apartment in Spain. You had to lift part of the floor to walk down the spiral and then came face to face with a brick wall. Also no light switch at the top.
Hi. I'm new here and just wanted to say hello. And let you know that in my hometown, Cologne, you get an architecture 🏆 for this.
‚Guten Morgen Blutbuche‘. Don’t worry, it has windows on the other sides and is actually very bright inside. I actually really like the way the door is inviting you to go inside.
Is the architect a very small child? This has crayon drawing of blueprints vibes
Load More Replies...Cologne - home to one of the world's most magnificent cathedrals; and this
One view of one building facade doesn't mean the building is bad or ugly. This facade is at least clean...
It‘s actually quite a beautiful home called Guten Morgen Blutbuche. People have just taken a photo of this one element to point at and make fun of. Slightly reductive!
Load More Replies...The Guggenheim, which we already mentioned as one of the triumphs of architecture together with the Eiffel Tower, also wasn't received so well in its first years. In fact, some people remarked that it looked like a giant toilet bowl. Back then, critics accused architect Frank Lloyd Wright of creating "architecture for architecture's sake," as the museum's curved walls were terrible for hanging artworks. Some other colorful descriptions include "inverted oatmeal dish" and "hot cross bun."
This house puts the ark in architecture.
That's a lot of roof and a lot of ugly. So, now it costs more to replace a roof becasue half of it you don't need.
There's an apartment building very similar to this near where I work, but at least it has multiple entrances so that roof style doesn't seem quite so overbearing.
Although I initially found the image labelled as a building in Makhachkala in Dagestan, I spotted Arabic writing on a store sign on a less-cropped version. I also found some info saying it was in Egypt. I also replaced the OP image with the second version I found.
If you find more reliable info about it, please add it to the comments.
Looks like only part of an old building remained so they build a new 80s building around it.
This house is in Belgium, built in the middle of idk what. Which came first, the house or the industrial apocalypse plaid walls?
My guess is the homeowner refused to sell so they built that monstrosity adjacent.
Adjacent? More like swallowing it whole, by building all around and over it.
Load More Replies...La Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona by Antonio Gaudí is still one of the most controversial buildings to date. Although it's not finished yet (the newest finish date is 2026), almost five million tourists every year visit the church and bring in €125 million into its budget. Half of it they use for finishing the project, and where the other half goes—no one knows.
Canadian bunker house. Ugggh.
A bunker can be useful to protect yourself from the upcoming canadian civil war!
Canada cant have a civil war. I am planning on going there when the one in USA happens.
Load More Replies...Building down into the ground can save a fortune on heating costs in cold winter areas.
Tiger, it's to protect yourself from the Canadian Geese and the Mooses. The latest news is they are joining forces! Now is the time to stockpile supplies in your bunker - chocolate, Nanaimo bars and pemmican. Don't be caught unawares! Be safe - bunker up.
Load More Replies...This one I feel like they're playing Jenga with building material. 34th and 8th in Manhattan.
To be fair, it looks like the upper half is under construction still, so there's no way for us to know what's going to look like yet.
It's not exactly fair to criticize a building still under construction. Plus, a midblock building in NYC is going to require firewalls on the adjacent lots, which will obviously involve no windows below a certain setback height (which further makes sense anyway - why would you put windows on the lower levels when someone else is going to just build right up to them anyways?) NYC has very stringent zoning codes that dictate the shapes of the building envelope...
This is not, but there is a Jenga House in NYC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/56_Leonard_Street
The street view of the bulging Gehry building. It never gets better.
Lyone Fein, I also like it! It's quirky and different, but not so different.
Load More Replies...It reminds me of the dancing buildings at the end of "Tokyo Godfathers"
The National Library in Kosovo is often called the ugliest building in the world. With its metal lattice exterior and 99 varying sizes of white domes, it was supposed to blend Islamic and Byzantine styles. At least that's what its author Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjaković was going for.
I still can’t figure out what this door is for!! Anyone have any clue what it’s for?
Snowfall exit. There are area's where the snow can fall up to two meters in one night. This door allows you to get out and get shoveling. I think it would/should have some kind of removable safety barrier on the inside.
Sounds great until you step out and wind up chest deep in the snow bsnk
Load More Replies...It is possible that they needed to get something gigantic like a piano into the upstairs area by Crane. With such a work, you would either install a giant door like this or you would disassemble the outer wall and then reassemble it afterward. But the door allows you to replace it or repair it in the future, so some people do this. Generally though, they would add a railing across the door to prevent falling and possibly a balcony.
This looks like a backyard, so it’s probably the back of the house. Was there an apartment upstairs at one time, which had a stairway up to it that has since been removed? Or was there some kind of two-story back deck off both doors in the past that has also been removed? A fire scape then? Those are the only reason for there to be a door to death on an upper floor.
Maybe they wanted to build a porch/balcony combo and ran outta money.
If was a Tex Avery cartoon, that would be the Mother-In-Law's Exit.
I'm undecided if this one is shame worthy.
Deffinitely a bizzare structure.
The Unikato building in Katowice, Poland
I could imagine people racing each other from the roof to the ground by jumping between the balconies (or whatever those are)
This is the ugliest building I have ever seen. It give me the creeps.
I don’t hate this but I’m guessing most of you will.
I feel like every single architect in the 2010's designed the same "edgy" homes consisting of stacked boxes with the top box being oversized and slightly off-set. Preferably in charcoal grey+ wood cladding.
One of the most controversial architects of our time is perhaps Frank Gehry. The Canadian-American often gets accused of treating architecture as sculpture. In his work, strange shapes and curves trump the practicality and efficiency of space. Herbert Muschamp, an architecture critic for The New York Times, called Gehry's Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle "like something that crawled out of the sea, rolled over and [passed away]."
It looks like someone gave a bunch of pinterest references to a random "contractor" (not an architect or engineer) and a very rough sketch or a stack of Lego blocks stuck together
Oooh, I like this! I like it a great deal. The bottom right area doesn't look to be complete yet, but when finished it will be a fabulous house for a tropical area.
Indeed, I absolutely love this little house with a big terrace. The point you spotted looks a great place for a green wall.
Load More Replies...Not bad. It might be in an area where you're only allowed a limited footprint and the gigantic roof terrace is a successful loophole.
I seem to recall a version of this in wood in one of the episodes of Magnum.
Hopefully a toilet behind some actual walls somewhere
Load More Replies...I wanted to share and shame a photo that I took of a block of flats in Paris adorned with multiples of Michelangelo’s Dying Slave.
these were just laying around so I think I will just use them somewhere.
Reminds me of Walter Benjamin's critique in " the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction"
Spiked, Steve Messam, Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, Ripon, UK, 2021.
I love it. It was part of a set of temporary installations around the estate called "These Passing Things". They were all connected in different ways to the estate's follies. Follies are daft and pointless fantasies in the first place, and this too was playful and fun and unserious. And only there for a few months, so not a major disruption to anyone who didn't like it.
It's an art installation though: "In the shapes that explode from inside the Temple of Piety, this inflatable structure is inspired by William Aislabie’s proposed memorial pyramid to his father John. Siting this piece in the heart of the garden is a bold statement and reflects the intention of the original garden designers who were making an impact in the eighteenth century. The follies have a transformative effect on their immediate surroundings due to their scale and presence. Their temporary nature means that their effect is fleeting and as they leave no mark behind, it would be hard to know if they ever existed. The Georgians used this technique in their garden designs to impress and delight visitors and many of the follies at Studley Royal appeared and disappeared and statues frequently moved around."
It doesn’t usually look like this. I used to sing at Fountains Abbey with my choir every year. The most memorable time was trying to keep my soprano voice steady while being dive-bombed by bats during an evening concert attended by Princess Anne.
can't complain too much about this, it was a temporary art installation....
this is fantastic and clearly a (brilliant) art installation...def. more interesting than the folley by itself!
What do you think about the architectural feats in this list, Pandas? Do you think you'd warm up to some of them in the future? Or maybe you don't even think some of them deserve shaming? Let us know in the comments! And, if you want to see more buildings you can shame, head over here, here, here, and here.
Well..that’s a good use for those spare parts in the back yard.
Rounded roof or pointy roof? Hmm… both!
I'm kind of more bothered by how poorly the garage door lines up with the driveway.
Looks like it was built by the second little pig. One sneeze away from being rubble.
Looking at this one makes my head hurt. It's giving me Stranger Things/Twilight Zone vibes that something about reality is slightly off kilter.
I just saw this one on Reddit and thought it would be a nice snarky post to contribute here. There’s enough clues to determine what the 2nd floor garage door might be used for, but don’t let that stop the wild speculation. This is no place for logic!
the fella that lives here makes headstones. his shop is on the second floor, he opens the door and uses a forklift to lower the headstone down
Looks like this is a business. Or the house was built in a cemetery. One or the other, either works.
For those days where you roll out of bed and into the car for work.
At work, when I'm trying to load a cart, it irritates me when none of the boxes are the same size so nothing will align properly. I think this house would literally drive me insane.
Alright modern Architecture has gone far, i bet the Zillow listing is : cliffhanger of a View, ever wanted to feel like you’re going over a cliff now you can with this house, My nephew and Niece draw better houses than this. Shame on this building shame.
I think it is a very cool concept. The counterweight however, while probably very much necessary, throws it off for me. Such a great location, and you can't see half the view because of the massive black wall?
There could be windows on the counterweight side
Load More Replies...https://www.designboom.com/architecture/suspended-house-milad-eshtiyaghi-mendocino-california-04-29-2021/ The page says it is a concept in progress. It is pretty interesting, actually.
So, you're ***really** relying on the three cable-stays at the top...if they go, the two underneath aren't going be able to absorb the compressive force (they're probably just there for stability).
looks like one of many poor attempts to capture the magic of FLW's falling water...
Doing a little Looking Up around Miami and saw these built in roof palm trees
Miami is known for it's Deco and Deco-inspired design, especially the closer to South Beach. This one doesn't bother me, it's just an 80's remake of Deco.
There should be more building around nature and less building over nature.
Looks like a jail
House inspired by Pizza Hut
All this for $220K.
Seems to be photographed at the worst possible angle, with with a little landscaping and a good power wash this could be a really nice place.
Hi all! I just wanted to introduce myself and share a photo I took
Looks like a lot of places. Reminds me of Baltimore.
Load More Replies...Just a normal first world tenement. Is this thread about poverty shaming?
Every time I drive by this church I can't help but think it's.... frowning.
To me, the part on the left looks like a surprised old man with a white mustache .
This is in a medium/high density residential area.
Nothing wrong here, just someone lucky enough to score a bit of extra land
And? Looks to me like a commercial property maybe that was there before it became a high density residential area.
I was at a cafe this morning and I couldn't get over how erratic the windows are on these buildings.
Imagine the windows from the inside
Don’t fall off that deck.
I'm missing something here. What's wrong with the deck? IDK enough about building- it looks new and has three big posts supporting it...?
It just looks like a no to me because that white building is on a hill that doesn't look very stable.
8th in the top 10 ugliest buildings in the world
You can see the dinosaur skeletons through those windows too (Royal Ontario Museum). I don't hate it whenever I'm walking under it!
Load More Replies...Royal Ontario museum, I actually really enjoy the crystalline addition, and if you get a better view of the entire building it appears crystals are growing out of the very much older original museum.
It looks like the Royal Ontario Museum was going for the Louvre Museum look!🙄
I posted this in the last group, but it bears repeating. Still the worst thing I've ever seen.
Either the garage door design or the sprinklers weren't well thought out.
That moment you build a really expensive house, and you don't even have heated floors for these God forsaken tile, we're in Colorado soooo gonna be cold.
*You* build a really expensive house and *you* don't plan for heated floors in the bathroom? *You* are still at the beginning of this remodel, so *you* could suck up the cost of redoing the bathroom floor. And now you can brag that your house is really *really* expensive, instead of just really expensive. Idiot.
a new Museum of Modern Art has recently been opened in Warsaw, Poland (the building might have been inspired by a shoebox or a block of styrofoam /s), which has an extremely minimalist post-modernist look.. some people do not appreciate this kind of architecture (or plainly take the mickey out on it) and post "critical" comments (ironically/satyrically or not) - just imagine the level of aggravation of the MoMA's new building sympathisers/enjoyers..
Looking it up, my comment would be that the interior spaces border on boring. And the total mass could have a more recognisable identity. A waste of opportunity, imo.
Load More Replies...a new Museum of Modern Art has recently been opened in Warsaw, Poland (the building might have been inspired by a shoebox or a block of styrofoam /s), which has an extremely minimalist post-modernist look.. some people do not appreciate this kind of architecture (or plainly take the mickey out on it) and post "critical" comments (ironically/satyrically or not) - just imagine the level of aggravation of the MoMA's new building sympathisers/enjoyers..
Looking it up, my comment would be that the interior spaces border on boring. And the total mass could have a more recognisable identity. A waste of opportunity, imo.
Load More Replies...
