Image: Niall Patrick Walsh/Midjourney

In the horror and thriller worlds, buildings sometimes seem to take on a life of their own. From The Shining’s Overlook Hotel to The Watcher’s 657 Boulevard, architecture and space become more than a backdrop or a vehicle but instead become main characters in their own right; sometimes to the peril of their occupants.

Unlike Hollywood, buildings in the real world don’t always follow a script. Even works of architecture overseen by some of the world’s most well-known architects can become unexpected antagonists for those in or around them. Below, we have rounded up six such examples, from heat rays to ice daggers to flying ceramics.

Differing from the many serious building disasters analyzed in our editorial in recent times, these six stories, fortunately, did not result in serious injuries or fatalities. Humanity did not escape unscathed, however. In one case, some insurance company investors were given an upset stomach. Tragic, indeed.

20 Fenchurch Street, London by Rafael Viñoly Architects

It is appropriate that we begin our Halloween-themed roundup on Fenchurch Street, an area of London that once played host to the infamous Jack the Ripper. It is also here that we find the Rafael Viñoly-designed 20 Fenchurch Street — colloquially known as the Walkie-Talkie tower.

Reluctant winner of the 2015 Carbuncle Cup for the UK’s worst building, the Walkie Talkie has sometimes channeled its inner Ripper by terrorizing the streets of East London, though happily not with comparably tragic outcomes. In 2013, ultra-bright light reflecting from the building’s concave glass façade melted cars parked on the street below, reportedly six times brighter than direct sunlight. Passers-by complained of being blinded by the dazzling beam, as did shopkeepers who claimed the intense beam burned and scorched a doormat in their premises.

This wasn’t the end of the Walkie-Talkie horror show. In 2015, the building returned to the headlines once again after locals complained of strong winds near the tower’s base, prompting a “rigorous” assessment of whether the tower had created a wind tunnel effect. "I almost got blown over the other day walking up past the building," one person told the BBC. "When I got around the corner it was fine. I was scared to go back."  

Vdara Hotel & Spa, Las Vegas by Rafael Viñoly Architects

The Walkie-Talkie isn’t the only Viñoly building with a fiery attitude. The architect’s Vdara Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas came under scrutiny in 2010 when it was found that, like the Walkie-Talkie, the tower's glass concave façade was focusing intense sunlight on surrounding areas.

The ‘death ray,’ as locals called it, increased temperatures across the hotel’s pool area by approximately 20 degrees, with one guest claiming the pool area reached 107.6 Fahrenheit. Happily, the hotel’s use of giant blue umbrellas over the pool deck means that the architects are, for now, out of hot water.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles by Gehry Partners

Frank Gehry once called his Walt Disney Concert Hall a “sailing ship.” While lauded for its trademark curves, the building’s history hasn’t been entirely plain sailing. Like Viñoly’s tale of two towers, the Disney Hall played the pantomime villain soon after its opening in 2003, when sun rays bouncing off the building’s highly reflective surface blinded drivers passing the building. The overwhelming light was accompanied by intense heat, with neighboring residential buildings reporting an increased use of air conditioning as a result.

The issues were ultimately solved when the facade was sanded by workers to dull the glossy metal. "The reflection wasn't my fault," Gehry said of the incident. "I told them that would happen. I was taking the heat for all that. It made the list of the ten worst engineering disasters in the decade. I saw it on television, the History Channel. I was number ten.” It’s another day, another list, for Disney’s shining star.

Ray and Maria Stata Center, Boston by Gehry Partners

On the opposite side of the country to his Disney Hall, Gehry’s Ray and Maria Stata Center at MIT suffered from the opposite weather extreme. In 2007, the institute filed a lawsuit against Gehry for a series of structural issues. Most terrifying, perhaps, were what CNBC referred to as “icicle daggers hung pendulously from the roof like deadly sash weights.” The lawsuit also claimed that snow and ice would dangerously cascade from window boxes and other roof areas, blocking emergency exits and damaging the building itself.

MIT ultimately paid more than $1.5 million for repairs to address the sliding ice and snow, as well as drainage issues that caused cracks in walls and mold growing on the building’s external brick cladding.

John Hancock Tower, Boston by I. M. Pei & Partners (now Pei Cobb Freed & Partners)

Since its completion in 1976, The John Hancock Tower has remained the tallest building in New England. Designed by Henry N. Cobb for I. M. Pei & Partners, the building has become a staple of the Boston skyline for almost half a century.

The lofty heights, however, came at a cost for the employees of the John Hancock Life Insurance Company, who occupied the building upon its opening. As reported by CBS, the building would twist and sway back and forth by a few inches in regular wind conditions, causing occupants on the upper floors to suffer from motion sickness. The issue was ultimately solved by the fitting of a tuned mass damper.

The episode was one of many for the tower throughout its life. During construction, the foundation’s retaining walls damaged nearby sidewalks and buildings, while all 10,334 panes of glass on the tower’s façade were replaced after several detached and fell from the building.

Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía Opera House, Valencia, Spain by Santiago Calatrava

Despite being the world’s tallest opera house, Santiago Calatrava’s Palau de les Arts could never hope to match the John Hancock Tower in height. It could, however, match its history of misfortune. One year after its 2005 opening, the opera house’s main stage collapsed during the replacement of the stage set, due to a technical problem involving incorrect mounting of the stage. One year later, heavy flooding once again damaged the newly reconstructed main stage, while water in the lower floors of the building destroyed the building’s complex stage equipment. The Guardian reported at the time that changes were made to the performance season as a result. 

For the building’s government owners, the drama’s final act came in 2014 when parts of the opera house’s iconic ceramic roof became detached in high winds, forcing the building to close to the public for two months. The regional government threatened to sue Calatrava for the cost of the repairs before an agreement was reached between the parties — one of several lawsuits endured by the Valencia-born architect. In the case of the Opera House, the cause of the issue was determined to be the faulty execution of the adhesive materials, and the ceramic roof was re-installed following Calatrava’s original design.

Editors' Note, November 2nd 2022. An earlier version of this article stated that the regional government in Valencia sued Calatrava regarding the Palau de les Arts roof detachment. The article has now been updated to note that while a suit was threatened, an agreement between the parties was reached. The article also stated that the opera's main stage collapsed while holding the entire set of Don Giovanni causing postponement of the inaugural opera season, which has now been updated to state that the collapse occurred during the replacement of the stage set due to the stage's incorrect mounting.