Perhaps, more unbearable than "judging" a building, the only thing to concentrate on is to concentrate on a bunch of strange buildings. Recently, the Architectural Talk Network released a list of "Top Ten Ugly Buildings" in 2021, and the reasons for the list include "strange and chaotic forms, which are typical of the showy rich and kitsch cultural tourism projects", "the shape is exaggerated and wasteful, and it belongs to the masterpiece of fake big empty design", "the technique is rough, the proportion is improper, and it is self-defeating". In the words of netizens, this list can be called "the scene of large-scale rollover in the construction industry".
Top Ten Ugly Buildings of Hainan Danzhou Hengda Haihua Island Complex Image Source: Architectural Talk Network
In The History of the Ugly, Umberto Echo once wrote sarcastically: "Ugliness is unpredictable and carries infinite possibilities." Beauty is endless, ugliness is boundless. Over the years, we have indeed seen a lot of "ugly to the sky" hot-eyed architecture, and they often have their own ugliness: some are keen on plagiarism, cottages, a few years ago, there have been a variety of cottage triumphal arches, pyramids and sphinxes; some indulge in realistic bionics, imitating objects including hairy crabs, books, seeds, etc.; and some deliberately pursue title gimmicks such as "highest" and "longest", borrowing a sentence of "ugly architecture" on the list, that is, "with false, Wasteful and exaggerated means blindly pursue urban wonders to mask the mediocre design of the main body of the building. ”
In fact, as a solidified art, the aesthetic standards of architecture are not uniform. For the list of "top ten ugly buildings", netizens expressed their opinions, some people commented that "only I think Figure X is okay", and some people added "XX buildings are worthy of the list".
In a sense, this is the important social value implied by similar selections. It is not to give a final conclusion, but to open a discussion, to guide people to pay more attention to the buildings around them, to realize their role in shaping the urban landscape and urban culture, and to form their own architectural aesthetic concepts. When there are more "knowledgeable" people, citizens pay more attention to architecture, and will not simply be fooled and deceived by eye-catching buildings, which will naturally form a certain counter-effect on the city skyline, forcing the building leader to respect public opinion and design carefully.
Top 10 Ugly Buildings in Jinan, Shandong Province, Hongyang Square Image Source: Architectural Talk Network
In daily life, although architecture occupies a large amount of urban space, it is often easily overlooked by the people who live in it. For example, office workers are always in a hurry to enter the company, will not study the characteristics and problems of the building design, and will go straight to the house when they return to the community after work.
But in fact, architecture has a subtle impact on urban life and social aesthetics. Goethe once said: "The mood aroused by architecture is very close to the effect of music." "In an architectural space, whether it is depressing and tacky, or comfortable and comfortable, there is a lot of learning behind it." With the development of social economy, the construction of buildings should also go beyond the basic needs of "shelter from the wind and rain" and form a city skyline with a real aesthetic height and respect for the local context.
Therefore, in the future, similar architectural lists should be more diverse and authoritative, guide the participation of the public, and encourage the public to speak out. We need to sunbathe the "ugliest building" and build a common aesthetic bottom line; we also need to use the most beautiful building to "wash our eyes", continuously improve the aesthetic level of society, change the phenomenon of "one side of a thousand cities", and build more city business cards that can stand the test of time. It is gratifying that looking at the results of the "Top Ten Ugly Buildings" in the past ten years, it will be found that the degree of "ugly" is actually gradually decreasing, which reflects that the bottom line of our architectural aesthetics is constantly improving, and the society has higher and higher requirements for the aesthetics of buildings.
Of course, such a orientation is inseparable from the necessary policy support. In April this year, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Key Tasks for New Urbanization and Urban-Rural Integration Development in 2021", which requires the implementation of the applicable, economical, green and beautiful construction policy in the new era, and strictly prohibits the construction of "ugly buildings".
In short, whether it is to use poisonous tongues such as "design costs are not cheap, design effects are scary" and other poisonous tongues to spit on ugly buildings; or to tighten the fence in policy and say "no" to buildings that constitute aesthetic offense and greed for foreign countries, in the end, it is all to build a more beautiful urban space and achieve higher quality urban development.
Source: China Youth Daily client