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Every now and then, we grab the opportunity to praise architects who consistently outdo themselves and surprise us with their marvelous creations. Because designing impressive and remarkable structures that leave everyone in awe is far from an easy task. It requires years of hard work, dedication, and understanding of seemingly endless aspects of human life. But far too often, we stumble upon places that tell us one universal truth — some pieces of architecture are utter disasters.

Here’s where 'The World's Ugliest Buildings' Twitter account comes in. This social media project is dedicated to pictures of some of the most visually displeasing architectural examples found across the world, and it shares the worst of the bunch. Though, even when they are the most unattractive fiascos ever discovered, they definitely leave an impression.

We at Bored Panda have gathered some of the most memorable pictures from the page to share with you all. So sit back, buckle up, and get ready to go down the rabbit hole of architectural hiccups. Be sure to hit upvote as you go, and let us know which of these places you’d love to see IRL in the comments!

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    For your entertainment, the Twitter account in question has been documenting terrible building examples ever since it was created in 2020. As the creator writes in the description, this social media account is a virtual gallery of some of the ugliest buildings found across the world, from China to Belgium to the United States. And they certainly deliver.

    The page currently has over 3k followers, but its Latin American version has gained a strong foothold on the platform by amassing over 31k devoted fans eagerly waiting for a new ugly creation to grace their feeds. They are both well-known for shaming buildings or public spaces that were designed without a dash of love or talent, and a brief scroll through their accounts shows a variety of wacky designs and spaces that are just begging to be poked fun at.

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    Moreover, each photo has a caption with the location of the building, and some offer more information like its name, construction date, and architect. So if some of these pictures left you scratching your head and wondering "What on earth were these people thinking!", this makes it much easier for you to look them up.

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    Saint Thomas
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's not in Belgium, but in Bulgaria : https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/snail-house-sofia

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    Speaking of architectural novelties, some ideas may (or may not) have once looked good on paper, but they probably should have just stayed on paper. Especially when architects have so many different ones, but they end up choosing them all at once. Of course, like any other art form, architecture is subjective, but this list offers proof that some buildings truly deserve all the strong opinions, criticism, and mockery they receive.

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    After all, when it comes to designing things for city living, you expect they are made with people in mind. Unfortunately, many creators wish to leave a mark and design buildings so unique that they will be remembered for years. Well, it's crystal clear that even with the best intentions, this desire for individuality does not always bring wanted results.

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    Nathaniel
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I am hearing Also Sprach Zarathrusta. 2001 A Space Odyssey, sponsored by AT&T.

    Amanda Rose
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The other side isn't really much better but at least we know where all the windows went. 507845-Lar...71541c.jpg 507845-Large-fromfaraway-view-from-the-northwest-6315c8b71541c.jpg

    Josie Bisbano
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It was formerly the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, built during the Brutalist period in the '60s. It's pretty ugly, and stands amid newer, more attractive buildings now. Yuck.

    RN Griffin
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I live in Houston. Trust me, it's just as ugly in person as it looks. The "ghost" of the Southwestern Bell logo is an especially nice touch. Never been inside, but it looks like the kind of place where you can't get a signal for your phone.

    Vita
    Community Member
    2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ok now we all know that's the Men in Black headquarters! 😂

    Jason Elkins
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The windowless side originally held the massive vacuum tube computer banks that were in use at the time.

    mark glass
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Looks like the housing for Customer Service. This must be the wall we always feel we're talking to.

    Chich
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "If we let you see the sunny and grassy fields outside you will and to leave and we can't have that"

    pepper jack
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Not aesthetic.. functional. NSA data consolidation points must be windowless.

    Pam Akers
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We have something very similar in St. Petersburg, Florida. It's a Verizon building. No windows.

    Theora Fifty-five Johnson
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's a building that was full of phone switches and is now full of internet connectivity.It was not made for people; was made to reduce interference from sunspots, radio, whatever.

    Moses Lamb III
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I was just so sure my hometown wasn't on this list... but alas the truth has found me thx internet

    Liv
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is the most depressing building I’ve seen so far

    Lina Leo
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Do they have no windows to keep their employees from leaping to their deaths? Some weird sheet going on at at&t...

    L.N.a mm
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There are a few of these around the country. We have one here in Manhattan (though much less noticeable hidden among much taller buildings). They were built to withstand a nuclear bomb during the cold war

    Mizuki Ukitake
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    People spend hours working in this building with no windows. Even prison is better

    Begone Fool
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's like an enormous headstone. Appropriate for those working within.

    Amber Bedard
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Let's go back to the old world style. Beautiful carvings and intentional

    Drake Foxe
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I used to stare at the side of this hideous building from my office daily. From what I understood it is not a headquarters building at all and just a giant data farm. It has two rows of windows on both sides and it's very bleak looking.

    Lorie Shewbridge
    Community Member
    2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Don't want those employees getting distracted by the clouds, birds, or I don't know, the sun!

    Imjust jim
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Shouldn't have hired an architect whose only experience was in racquetball courts.

    Janet C
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    With the ghost of Ma Bell's logo still on the wall. WMBTOPCITBWTNTALI

    Eric Rollin
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I never went but i say its just a thin cement facade to hide the smaller even uglier building begind it...

    Kevin Ber
    Community Member
    2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    For some odd reason, AT&T was especially paranoid about a nuclear attack from Soviet Russia, so the company built a lot of buildings to be able to protect the equipment inside from nuclear fallout. They also were buildings designed to keep out intruders and spies, hence the lack of windows.

    Chuck Berry
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That is sad! Foleys looked the same way. That way they didn't have to heat it

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    According to Associate professor Melonie Bayl-Smith from UNSW Built Environment, architecture today suffers from an originality syndrome. "When architects try to do something completely original, they don’t necessarily produce a better building," she said, adding that originality shouldn’t necessarily be the highest value of an architect.

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    "I see that architecture today, in some cases, has become a very form-based exercise, often at the expense of the quality of space or other crucial aspects of architecture. It doesn’t matter anymore whether it responds to anything to do with site or place or people — apparently we just want it to look different," Bayl-Smith added.

    As the associate professor argued, creating a well-thought-out product is more important than doing something for the sake of its novelty. "I think we as a profession need to do a better job of recognizing what does work well, and developing and enriching those approaches, whether it’s spatial design, material design, the processes of building assembly, sustainable practices — all the different things that contribute to making a great, long-lasting building," she said. "There are enough poor buildings out there; we don’t need to keep 'inventing' more of them just to try and be 'original'."

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    Raven Sheridan
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nobody should have this much money, while hundreds of millions live in abject poverty.

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    Architects have the power to make our lives much easier, they have the ability to create a sense of calmness and safety. New buildings and public spaces need to accommodate and protect society, not make us feel uneasy and confused. After all, a report by the United Nations (U.N.) stated that 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas today. A number which is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Our environments are changing at an incredible rate, so designers, urban planners, and architects have to face challenges to ensure they serve the people who live there.

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    Great Pyrenees
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The middle east has such beautiful castle designs. Modern office building is not one of them

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    More often than not, however, they choose to make the modern world extremely ugly. In the last few centuries, humanity has made huge strides in technology, medical advances, and overall quality of life, but contemporary architecture still somehow manages to give us the jitters. As it’s explained in an article on Current Affairs, most architects will defend themselves by saying you simply don’t understand architectural principles.

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    Shannon Leta
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It was in Hialeah, FL (surrounding city to Miami) and was painted white, sold to produce company & then demolished in 2017

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    One typical excuse they use is that the buildings that look like atrocities to the public eyes are actually incredible feats of engineering. Take 'blobitecture', for example, a real school of contemporary architecture in which buildings have an organic, amoeba-shaped, building form. Usually, architects justify these examples because they were created using complicated computer-driven algorithms.

    Another thing you’ll often hear is that contemporary architecture is honest. This means that it doesn’t rely on the forms and usages of the past, and it’s definitely not interested in "coddling you and your dumb feelings".

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    Honza Palička
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The Commercial Center Cita has even more stuff on it! Eiffel Tower, Brandenburg Gate, Tower Bridge, Little Mermaid and even a set of the Avengers :D

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    Dre Mosley
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't think it's terrible. Probably wouldn't even be in this post if Trump's name wasn't on it.

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    "That’s the world we live in! Get used to it! Fans of Brutalism — the blocky-industrial-concrete school of architecture — are quick to emphasize that these buildings tell it like it is, as if this somehow excused the fact that they look, at best, dreary, and, at worst, like the headquarters of some kind of post-apocalyptic totalitarian dictatorship," the journalists Adrian Rennix and Nathan J. Robinson wrote in the piece.

    "There’s an easy test for whether a building is beautiful or not. Ask yourself: if this building could speak, would it sound like the Rubaiyat or the works of Shakespeare, or would it make a noise like 'Blorp'? For nearly 100 years, we have been stuck in the Age of Blorp. It is time to learn to speak again."

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    #36

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    Oerff On Tour
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The extension out over the water (Seine river) actually has a section of glass floor. It's the office of the minister.

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    Helen Downey
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    For the 'sea' portion I'm getting serious plastic pollution vibes. The front looks like it's off a rake of cans

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    Oerff On Tour
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's not unfinished, but it isn't really used either. At night the lights are on, but it's totally empty. It is built to "demonstrate the glory of North Korean workers".

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    Huddo's sister
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Plus all the brickwork on the ground leading up to it is all uneven and you can't get a wheelchair up it easily

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    CatScratch Beaver
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's a shame it wasn't built all the way to the sidewalk. That is what makes this one unattractive. Otherwise, lovely art nouveau building.

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    SkekVi
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is pretty okay actually?? Like ok it could use some colour but it's got some good funky shapes going on.

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    Rebecca O’Donnell
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My vertigo would have me passing out on the sidewalk before I could get in the door.

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    Marika
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Looks like a strange creature from the deep sea with many, many eyes...

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    Khara Mei
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sorry, I like this building. Just me though, I've always liked it.

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    Oerff On Tour
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It might look ugly in this picture, but that's because of the angle it is taken. If you look at it from a bit of a distance, you will see it's beauty

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    Lara Verne
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It looks like houses that "new money" people build back in the 1990s. These buildings were cheaply made, had zero respect for it's surroundings and on top of that, they were fugly. Many houses like this ended up being empty and unused, and owners are trying to sell them (very unsuccessfully).

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    AP
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    not necessarily ugly, just looks a bit busy.

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    #89

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    R Adams
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I like this, it's an 18th century folly, and the owner used to grow pineapples in hothouses lol.

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