Archinect - News

Dissecting McMansion ugliness

2016-08-16T15:56:00-04:00

The aptly named "McMansionhell" tumblr has taken the time to carefully note just what makes a McMansion an ugly, terrible, no good architectural atrocity. Skipping over frothy diatribe and going straight into meticulous point by point dissection, the tumblr notes that McMansions fail in four key areas: Masses & Voids, Balance, Proportion, and crucially, Rhythm. "McMansions lack architectural rhythm," the tumblr states, using slidetool graphics to help you wince and blanch in an informed way (as opposed to just experiencing an overpowering visceral dislike each time you pass one on the street).

Other ugly building news:

'Prison-like' student housing wins Carbuncle Cup for Britain's worst building of the year

2013-08-30T13:20:00-04:00

Cramped rooms with low ceilings and one small window facing directly on to a brick wall. If you crane your neck, you can just about see the outside world. It could be a description of the cells in Pentonville Prison, but these are the conditions enjoyed just down the road from the Victorian jail in a new student accommodation block for University College London – today announced as winner of the Carbuncle Cup by Building Design magazine, for the worst building of the year.

Previously: Britain's worst buildings of the year - vote now for your (least) favorite!

Britain's worst buildings of the year - vote now for your (least) favorite!

2013-08-20T18:54:00-04:00

Votes have been open for the Carbuncle Cup's annual naming and shaming since May. And now, here's the shortlist for the ugliest building of the year – from a swirly vertical pier to faux-fronted student flats.

Click here to cast your vote in the poll for the UK's ugliest building of the year, hosted by The Guardian.

In the running for this year's award are:

Avant Garde tower, Bethnal Green, London
UCL student housing, 465 Caledonian Road, Islington, London
Porth Eirias Watersports Centre, Colwyn Bay, Wales
Redcar Beacon aka the Vertical Pier, Redcar, Cleveland
Premier Inn, Waterloo, London
Castle Mill housing, Port Meadow, Oxford

UPDATE: 'Prison-like' student housing wins Carbuncle Cup for Britain's worst building of the year

Carbuncle Cup 2011: MediaCityUK is crowned Britain's ugliest new building

2011-09-01T13:46:20-04:00

There were other strong contenders, but the 2011 Carbuncle Cup for Britain's "ugliest new building" has been awarded to the £600m MediaCityUK. This concatenation of anaemic buildings is the controversial new regional headquarters of the BBC, and home to the media studies faculty of Salford University.