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Founded in Sweden in 2014 as a public Facebook group, [Architectural Uprising] is a collective of citizen design critics who object to what organizers call the “continued uglification” of developments in Nordic cities, and push for a return to classically informed design. [...]
The movement’s size and persistence, however, has earned it a seat in the discourse. “When [historians] talk about architecture during these years, [the Architectural Uprising] will be part of that history”
— Bloomberg
A new report in Bloomberg tells of the staying power of social media-driven architectural criticism. Projects lambasted by the popular (mostly) Scandinavian group include Oslo’s new National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design by architect Klaus Schuwerk and estudio Herreros’ Munch... View full entry
As L.A. pats itself on the back for its freshly angular skyline, a new architectural trend — enabled by another city ordinance — threatens to turn the beating heart of modern Los Angeles into a cold, lifeless and unwalkable place. — The Los Angeles Times
This excellent piece by the aptly named Steven Sharp delves into the uglification of downtown Los Angeles via the "parking podium," wherein large buildings dedicate their first few floors to a parking garage to meet code requirements for parking, thereby plunging the pedestrian realm back into an... View full entry
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... View full entry
The forest of elevator cores sprouting up around town tells us that we’re living in a once-a-century moment—a sugar rush of development unseen here since our parents’ parents’ time. But the dirty little secret behind Boston’s building boom is that it’s profoundly banal—designed without any imagination, straight out of the box, built to please banks rather than people. — bostonmagazine.com
Economic boom isn't always congruent with good architecture in other cities either:The new 5 over 1 Seattle, where "everything looks the same"Blair Kamin not impressed by Chicago's latest housing developmentsJeff Sheppard calls downtown Denver's new housing developments "meaningless, uninspiring" View full entry
In times when the rest of the city is rapidly becoming extremely expensive, Amsterdam’s ugly light gray and pink-yellow housing blocks are staying affordable, with rents contingent on income. Their continued presence in the city is becoming a memorial for a once-existing Amsterdam, in which almost all space in the city was equally distributed. — failedarchitecture.com
Fröbe says she has developed an affection for good Bausünden, and is excited whenever she comes across them. The buildings are products of ingenuity, determination and courage...According to Fröbe, there's a fine line dividing good Bausünden from good architecture. — Der Spiegel
Kristin Haug recently spoke with architectural historian Turit Fröbe, who has compiled a photo collection celebrating the Germany's ugliest edifice. The most beautiful examples of Bausündens, have been published in a new book titled "Die Kunst der Bausünde" (The Art of... View full entry
The last several years have seen a series of tall towers sprout from the Downtown Brooklyn skyline, but [...] these new edifices leave much to be desired in the looks department. The title of the borough's tallest building keeps passing from one development to the next, but none of these buildings—the Brooklyner, 388 Bridge Street, or Avalon Willoughby West, to name a few—offer any architectural integrity. — Curbed NY
A little of the less-than-beautiful Downtown Brooklyn buildings that are dominating the borough's skyline, from tallest to shortest. View full entry
The space-age eleMMent Palazzo comes complete with a colossal master bedroom, 40-inch TV, on-board bar, fireplace and even its own rooftop terrace.
But the most impressive piece of luxury is the 'Sky Lounge' - at the press of a button the 40ft home transforms into a personal retreat with pop up cocktail bar, underfloor heating and extravagant marble lighting.
— dailymail.co.uk
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. — guardian.co.uk
This was the city of the 20th Century, but surely nobody, neither utopians or dystopians, imagined that it would look like this. It was nobody's dream and at least in theory, nobody's nightmare. How did we get here? — BBC
In his colorful article, Owen Hatherley, architecture critic and occasional Archinect editor, confronts the ugliness and its legacy 20th century post modern style buildings left the cities with. View full entry