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This topic came up in the Architecture forum last year... these were my thoughts for Raleigh...
Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder, but these buildings in Raleigh often make the local “ugly list...”
The Archdale Building. Mid-70s Modernism. A former Governor called for this 15 story monolith to be torn down as part of a proposed “Project Phoenix” to reconfigure the state government campus. Two of its broad, flat sides have almost no windows. Ironically, it houses state offices for Environmental Quality, and stands across the street from the American Institute of Architects Building...
The Albemarle Building. Built in 1970, this beauty housed the state Treasurers office, kept warm and comfy in asbestos-filled goodness, and maintenance delayed decadence. It was recently gutted and renovated, but the exterior remains so easy on the eyes. Now houses the state Insurance Department.
The Bath Building. Early 70s Brutalism. Designed to house North Carolina’s Public Health labs. Form did follow function: https://goo.gl/maps/51ByKvgBu8acZNjNA
But, this one likely wins the prize, and most major cities do seem to have one. The 1948, 8 story, AT&T fortress built to withstand a nuclear attack, and housing more copper wire than gold in Fort Knox... https://goo.gl/maps/ccb7uhcK1sEaESCw5
Well, I live in two cities that have surely among the ugliest city halls in the nation:
Boston - a big ugly pile of grey concrete set in a freezing cold windswept plaza
Dallas - a big ugly pile of grey concrete that looks like it's going to fall over set in a windswept plaza wtihout shade that approaches the surface temperature of the Sun in summer.
Dallas offers the bonus of an equally ugly central public library - you guessed it, a big ugly pile of grey concrete set in a windswept... well, you get the drift. The central library also offers the special bonus of being filled with insane unwashed homeless people.
Well, I live in two cities that have surely among the ugliest city halls in the nation:
Boston - a big ugly pile of grey concrete set in a freezing cold windswept plaza
Dallas - a big ugly pile of grey concrete that looks like it's going to fall over set in a windswept plaza wtihout shade that approaches the surface temperature of the Sun in summer.
Dallas offers the bonus of an equally ugly central public library - you guessed it, a big ugly pile of grey concrete set in a windswept... well, you get the drift. The central library also offers the special bonus of being filled with insane unwashed homeless people.
Most of West Orange's downtown buildings are ugly, from the Federal architecture municipal building to the modernist PECO headquarters. But I'll give the nod to this reconstruction of Edison's Black Maria. It's historic, but it ain't pretty. Edison's factory itself isn't nearly as bad.
Interesting the OP started off with Raleigh. Although I don't live there I go often and always thought One Progress Plaza and the Archdale Building (both built in 1977 according to Emporis.com) were hideous.
In Charlotte, it's the "pepto-bismol" building. A pink-purplish glass high-rise tower in the South End district.
When I first saw the Boston redevelopment in 1974, it was recently the City Hall and other buildings that replaced a scruffy normal cityscape. I gather it's called Brutalism. It's ugly and doesn't work well for its purposes. I have nothing good to say about it.
This topic came up in the Architecture forum last year... these were my thoughts for Raleigh...
Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder, but these buildings in Raleigh often make the local “ugly list...”
The Archdale Building. Mid-70s Modernism. A former Governor called for this 15 story monolith to be torn down as part of a proposed “Project Phoenix” to reconfigure the state government campus. Two of its broad, flat sides have almost no windows. Ironically, it houses state offices for Environmental Quality, and stands across the street from the American Institute of Architects Building...
The Albemarle Building. Built in 1970, this beauty housed the state Treasurers office, kept warm and comfy in asbestos-filled goodness, and maintenance delayed decadence. It was recently gutted and renovated, but the exterior remains so easy on the eyes. Now houses the state Insurance Department.
The Bath Building. Early 70s Brutalism. Designed to house North Carolina’s Public Health labs. Form did follow function: https://goo.gl/maps/51ByKvgBu8acZNjNA
But, this one likely wins the prize, and most major cities do seem to have one. The 1948, 8 story, AT&T fortress built to withstand a nuclear attack, and housing more copper wire than gold in Fort Knox... https://goo.gl/maps/ccb7uhcK1sEaESCw5
Wanna try again with that last link? It opens to a finely grained closeup of the asphalt pavement in the 7300 block of Thouron Avenue in Philadelphia's East Mount Airy neighborhood.
I'm a definite outlier on New Boston City Hall. While it's a shame the city destroyed a lively if seedy entertainment district to produce that windswept plaza, I think the building itself is fascinating: its form really does telegraph the function of the various spaces inside. The mayor's office is in the huge brow over the hole leading to the main entrance, the city council offices are in the smaller large windows to the left of the mayor's office, and the bureaucracy occupies the inverted ziggurat on top.
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