Melbourne has its fair share of unusual buildings – what do you think is the biggest eye-sore?
Perhaps you consider some of our more modern structures to be dreadful. Or perhaps a structure that’s been built decades ago that is rather dire.
No matter if it’s in the CBD or your local suburb, mention the worst architecture below.
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
*The Age building
*DFO Spencer Street from the back
*The hideous orange apartments on Flinders Street near the corner of Spencer
*All high-rise carparks in the city
I feel strongly about this as it’s in plain sight for me all day. It’s the big, gold, shiny Hyatt hotel building (link to image).
The RMIT buildings on Swanston, just North of Melbourne Central, including Storey Hall.
Wanky, monstrous crap.
Jeff’s shed (although points for actually being useful).
Jeff’s giant yellow cock.
I can’t believe how tiny those things are when you see them from the Southbank side – they’re hotel room size! Looks like one lucky floor in that building gets to have people peering into their apartments from the train line all day, too. CITY LIVING!
The green RMIT buildings on Swanston St. Looks like the Hulk wrapped a big green turd around the building.
Absolutely definitely (IMHO) has to be the Eureka Tower. I’m pretty sure Archimedes wouldn’t have said that when he saw it!
Not sure if this is the right question. At least with architecture, there’s always room for debate, opinion and conjecture. The most damaging thing about melbourne’s built environment is lack of architecture. McMansions, where it seems pretty clear that no architect got involved – leaving the building code open to be exploited by shit draftsmen, builders, developers and greedy residents – stuffing as much crap into the building envelope as possible; paving the rest with faux stone patterned concrete; and erecting fortified fences around the lot.
if i sound bitter, you’d understand if you saw my neighbour’s “dream home”. Shame City of Moreland, Shame!
Fed Square and RMIT.
Giant yellow penis & those stupid red things near it.
Federation Square also sucks.
Fed square is great, RMIT is great, I reckon all of the shitty buildings built between 1960 and 1980!
I agree that the Hyatt is pretty ugly.
There’s a house in my street that would also go pretty close.
Note: rendering does not make an ugly house better. It just makes it an ugly rendered house.
The Housing Commission high rises are pretty ugly.
Endless miles of mindlessly ugly McMansions
The Docklands are sterile, imposing and without style and taste. Most of the public art there are hideous, plasticky looking gimmicks.
The ugliest buildings in melbourne have got to be by far the grey latrine-like structures at Taplin Street Fitzroy North. They are a group of in-your-face apartments that display a complete lack respect to the Heritage Of the local area.
See:
http://urbanplanningyarra.blogspot.com/
I think that it’s sterility and isolation are definitely going to be remembered as the reasons for its failure.
If you want to see an example of a very little known ugly building, it’s around the corner from my place. Corner of Park & Taplin Street Fitzroy North there is a block of apartments 56-62 Taplin Street.
They look like a giant grayish latrine and display a complete disunity with the greater neighborhood.
YUK!
Definitely the RMIT building. I’ve always assumed it’s just to ensure all the architecture students feel good about themselves by setting the bar so low.
There’s a house in my street that is hideous. Chocolate brick, giant chains for fences & a glass wall between the master bedroom & living room.
Failing that, the old Gas & Fuel buildings were ugly, god rest their unsighly souls.
Any apartment building from 1960s-1970s gets my vote.
All those public commission ugly apartments. Those ones in Collingwood but I’m sure there’s more around!
Melbournes worst buildings have to be all those builder designed homes that are popping up like a plague in new estates. These poorly designed dwellings pay no acknoledgement to orientation, solar paths, climate or site context. But as long as they have their white stone bench tops, faux stacked stone across the front facade, a bit of render and a theatre room then the masses love it. They ae sold with ‘lifestyle’ guarenteed from the marketing wankers who work for the developers yet do absolutely nothing for improving quality of life for those who live in them.
DOCKLANDS. Its one ugly piece of architecture from head to toe.
the age building.
Mc mansions builders draftsmen houses. they think its a good solution 2 build these houses.
Single story mcmansions are back yard less.
Re: Storey Hall. Read “Learning From Las Vegas”. It’s ARM’s bible.
Re: DFO. Last minute compromise with MCC.
Re:60′s to 80′s. I love Brutalism!
Agree with Fed Square being no good. So much waste of space. Internal spaces overworked plasterboard and “jazzy” zigzag windows for the sake of it. Very little actual internal building for the price.
Most of the new multi-story buildings going up along Lygon and Nicholson Streets in East Brunswick lack any design merit – but the worst is on the corner of Brunswick Road and Nicholson Street, East Brunswick. Unfortunately I drive past it every day and cringe.
Yeah, the one the colour of baby poop. Makes me cringe too.
Melbourne Aquarium.
This thing in a gateway to Melbourne is an abomination. Its featurist gauche hideous clunkiness is the biggest blight on Mebourne
Docklands!
Fed square & that green gunk-like building near Melbourne Central
Sometimes it’s not the architecture per se, it’s the urban design context. This is often overlooked in architectural teaching. Vic govt does nothing to ensure the quality of our public space and streetdscapes. Almost all Victorian streets are banal if not ugly.
The “Feral” wheel at Harbour Town!! It was ugly when it was first erected, and even uglier after it was deemed unsafe, and uglier still when disassembled! What a waste of taxpayers’ money!! Pity Brumby didn’t pay for that one out of his guarranteed superannuation!!!
Federation Square. It is the biggest eye-sore. It stands out way too much and it just doesn’t fit in with the surrounding architecture.
RMIT building on the corner of La Trobe and Swanston. Same thing has Federation Square. I think whoever designed that green blob was trying to hard to make it edgy or artsy, when really it’s just ugly.
Robert Menzies Building, Monash University Clayton Campus
Does the big ferris wheel count as a building?
Fed Square…never liked it, it just isn’t a comfortable place to hang out Docklands has a bit of a cold feel to it as well.
Beautiful old homes are being demolished all across Melbourne suburbs and they are being replaced by “modern apartments” which try to cram 6-8 units in a small building block. These are usually ugly monstrosities that increase the noise level in a neighbourhood, increase pollution, density, traffic, reduce green spaces.
They’re OK as rat cages for the rats of the rat race – content they live in a “mod flat”…
The commission flats and the Ming Wing at Monash Uni
Any building made with those ugly 1960s orange bricks – for example the back of the old Moorabbin Town Hall (fortunately the front has been renovated). Yet incredibly, this building has a heritage listing – for no other reason than it was a town hall built in the 1960s. How ridiculous!
fed square looks like army recruitment office
Melbourne Aquarium for deactivating the water’s edge, and Collins Place for demolishing heritage to replace it with something bland and unengaging.
Monstrosity going up on Barkly St which blocks one of my favourite views.
Without doubt Fed Square, to me it just doesn’t look right in its location!! It’s ugly and rude yuk!!!