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Ugly high-rises

BigCityAttitude

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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Yes, the Pregnant Building would make my list of ugly Boston highrises, pretty much anything in the West End, the Tip O'Neil Building if we can put that in the high-rise class, though I guess it wouldn't apply, Warren Towers at BU, the towers at Copley Place, the condo across Huntington from Copley Place (between the library and Copley Place).

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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The Tip O'Neill Building used to make me mad every time I looked at it. Besides being ugly, it replaced the Madison (Manger) Hotel. The old North Station complex was far preferable to the new one- at least in an architectural sense, if not a functional sense.

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Rickydavisfan21 Hamlet

Rickydavisfan21

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No contest. That building is grotesque.

But a couple of my (dis)favorites include One Financial Plaza in Hartford and the Federal Reserve Bank Bldg in Boston. Here's One Financial:

unitedtechnologies.jpg

Not the greatest picture, but you get the point. It's big, it's golden, and it's ugly. And here's the Federal Reserve Bldg:

kveus121b.jpg

300px-Federal_Reserve_Bank_Building.jpg

It looks like a giant washboard, doesn't it?

I actually really like this building

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damus Burg

damus

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http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/sixw...4/08/295120.jpg

This skyscraper isn't too hideous, but given that it's one of the most prominent buildings in just about every skyline shot of Providence, I grew to hate it in my time there. It just looks to me like the facade could've been designed by a kid with legos.

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=125360

This is the city's Westin, which I don't think will age too well. I hate that faux-renaissance style, unfortunately for me they're adding a sibling to it with the same general design.

This is actually my favorite high rise in the city of Providence.

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tony speller Whistle-Stop

tony speller

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this building is pretty nasty. Genessee Towers in Flint, MI. Most of the space in this building is abandoned... I actually remember seeing boards over some of the windows. Pretty bad, eh? I'd be intrested in seeing one worse!! :)

EDIT: I just noticed that this building has been posted twice. At least word is out... someone blow this thing up.

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Inkdaub Whistle-Stop

Inkdaub

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That Knight building is the winner easily. I would also say that building in Moscow isn't bad but looks unfinished. The Transamerica in Los Angeles is a far more boring and ugly 'not finished looking' building. Also, I like the Key Tower in Seattle...though it has another name now, the Municipal is it?

I actually like most of these buildings.

Here is a not so good photo on the Transamerica of which I speak...the far better Library Tower in the background.

transamerica-arco-LA.jpg

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Lone Ranger Burg

Lone Ranger

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http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/sixw...4/08/295120.jpg

This skyscraper isn't too hideous, but given that it's one of the most prominent buildings in just about every skyline shot of Providence, I grew to hate it in my time there. It just looks to me like the facade could've been designed by a kid with legos.

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=125360

This is the city's Westin, which I don't think will age too well. I hate that faux-renaissance style, unfortunately for me they're adding a sibling to it with the same general design.

This is actually my favorite high rise in the city of Providence.

Just out of curiosity, which facade of 50 Kennedy do you not like, the ends or the sides or both?

I'm not a fan of the sides of the building -- and by the sides, I mean the long sides, not the slender front or back of the building.

I do wish they'd fix the lighting on their golden arch thingy ...

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damus Burg

damus

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Just out of curiosity, which facade of 50 Kennedy do you not like, the ends or the sides or both?

I'm not a fan of the sides of the building -- and by the sides, I mean the long sides, not the slender front or back of the building.

I do wish they'd fix the lighting on their golden arch thingy ...

It just looks cheesy to me. The arch is one thing, but it isn't too noticable compared to what really bothers me about that building's facade. I don't like the color, the shape, or the blocky "spire" or wahtever that is. I actually "worked" security in all of Providence's "big three" and must say that I think that 50 Kennedy Plaza is just an idiotic and cheap building. It looks to me like a child could have designed the building's facade. I'd rather see a Textron or a Hospital Trust tower with no real thought put into the facade than something like that. The layout isn't logical at all, and I must say that the tenants in that building's private law firms (and the US Attorney's office) had the worst attitude out of all the 3 buildings, and almost half of 1 Financial was full of lawyers.... lawyers who mostly didn't have bad attitudes.

111 Westminster (superman) hasn't been kept up too well; several floors look like they haven't been updated in 40 years and most floors and offices are able to be reached through the stairwells or elevators without using keys. I would not feel too secure if I was managing one of those offices with security guards sleeping at the desk at 3am and the elevators left running to any floor.

1 Financial is far and away the best building out of the three even though it's over 10 years older than 50 Kennedy.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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111 Westminster (superman) hasn't been kept up too well; several floors look like they haven't been updated in 40 years and most floors

There's some scaffolding up around the lower levels of the Superman Building now, seems they're doing some sort fo renovation/upkeep work.

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tracer1138 Whistle-Stop

tracer1138

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Being a future architect, when it comes to architecture, i'm VERY opinionated

Anything by the designer Le Corbusier

Almost everything by Frank Ghery

Just because something is interesting doesn't make it good. The Holocaust was interesting.

I think architects often forget that people have to get up and walk by their buildings everyday... for that reason, buildings should be beautiful. People should be allowed live in an aesthetically pleasing world.

I hate it when architects try make a statement with their buildings. because of the nature of the beast, we're stuck with their designs long after the statement has become obsolete so architecture should strive to be timeless.

Don't use too much concrete... if it looks terrible wet, don't build it anywhere but Arizona.

I hate those huge black and brown monoliths with tinted windows from the 70s and 80s. I'm sorry, but my cities need more color than that.

It looks good at night is no excuse for a building's design... If you put enough lights on it, anything looks good at night.

END OF RANT!

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