Which building will take home the 2017 Carbuncle Cup? Earlier this week, UK-based BD Magazine announced six shortlisted projects that are still in the running for the “prize”. Established by BD, the yearly competition crowns one project as “Britain's worst new building” from the last 12 months. Unsurprisingly, the contest has stirred up controversy in Europe for the way it singles out architecture firms and shames them.
Judged by a jury panel with consideration of BD readers' feedback, the six shortlisters “suffer from a range of sins”, as BD Magazine writes. These blunders include overwhelming “statement” buildings, incoherent form, overdevelopment, and plain ol' gaudiness, among other factors. The shortlisted projects are:
“Our six strong shortlist contains a mix of buildings types of differing scales and demonstrates that buildings don’t have to be big to be bad and that poor quality architecture touches all building types,” BD writes. The Carbuncle Cup winner will be revealed September 6. Last year, London's Lincoln Plaza won the prize.
Read more about the shortlist on BD.
The Home of Shadows / Edition #3
Register by Thu, Nov 21, 2024
Submit by Mon, Mar 3, 2025
2025 Concrete Masonry Competition
Register by Wed, Apr 9, 2025
Submit by Wed, Jun 4, 2025
Pape Info Point
Register by Tue, Nov 19, 2024
Submit by Wed, Dec 18, 2024
Peja Culture Pavilion
Register by Wed, Dec 11, 2024
Submit by Tue, Jan 28, 2025
3 Comments
That Preston Station addition is awful. Looks like a mediocre 2nd year undergrad project.
Some of the others aren't so bad. I rather like the Park Plaza facade.
I think they are all quite irredeemable.
But a special place in purgatory should be saved for the planners and architects who put that lumpy pile next to the incredible Battersea Station, which should have remained standing on its own as an object. That's an outrage.
This is what they managed to f-up: