Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 442 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 6:34 pm: | |
What buildings of structures in Downtown Detroit would you vote as the ugliest? I don't have any particular building, although the old WSU building on Antietam and Chrysler is an eyesore. |
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit
Post Number: 372 Registered: 11-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 6:43 pm: | |
well, too many to choose from right now |
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13
Post Number: 1504 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 6:45 pm: | |
The Ren Cen, of course. |
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk
Post Number: 574 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 6:54 pm: | |
I think the Comerica building on between Lafayette and Fort and Cass and First (across from the old Free Press building) is horrendously ugly. However, I guess that's fitting of the company. (Message edited by rhymeswithrawk on March 28, 2007) |
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 922 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 6:57 pm: | |
The Ren Cen is just fine from a distance, not as good up close-- but not ugly. Compuware is ugly. |
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk
Post Number: 577 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:02 pm: | |
I don't think Compuware is that bad. And my girlfriend (who works for the development company Redico) might hate me for this, but Compuware isn't half as ugly as the Redico-erected One Kennedy Square. |
Psip Member Username: Psip
Post Number: 1684 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:05 pm: | |
IMO hands down is the Wayne County Road Commission building on Bagley and Clifford. |
Rrl Member Username: Rrl
Post Number: 771 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:08 pm: | |
Personally, I think COBO Hall is a pretty F-N ugly with it's stacked cube exterior. The minimalistic landscaping to its site doesn't help soften it much either. The interior is plain & stark, nothing to write home about; seems very cheaply done with that god-awful carpeting. We need a new convention center badly. |
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 2622 Registered: 02-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:14 pm: | |
ummm...Ford Auditorium. Millender Center is pretty bad but not nearly in the same league. The whole Blue Cross Blue Shield campus is pretty ugly and suburban-esque. |
Scottr Member Username: Scottr
Post Number: 458 Registered: 07-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:24 pm: | |
What? no votes for any number of parking structures yet? Most of those already listed may not be up to par with the Guardian, for example, but are still far from what I would call ugly. |
Bob_cosgrove Member Username: Bob_cosgrove
Post Number: 482 Registered: 03-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:25 pm: | |
One building that has stood the test of time weel in the past 50 years is the City County Building, now the Coleman A. Young Muncipal Building. Bob Cosgrove |
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk
Post Number: 579 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:36 pm: | |
Wait, I want to change my vote. Mackinaw's right, the BCBSM tower and its garages and the like are hideous. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 443 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:43 pm: | |
I just thought about it, if the BCBS building is hideous, then the McNamara building on Michigan and Cass is just worthless in appearance. |
The_rock Member Username: The_rock
Post Number: 1657 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:47 pm: | |
The Frank Murphy Hall of Justice is nothing to write home about. Frank would be disappointed. |
Psip Member Username: Psip
Post Number: 1686 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:50 pm: | |
One to add to the list is the old IRS / MGM temp casino. Kinda like a wart on the side of the Lodge. I agree with the McNamara building. 1970's ugly |
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider
Post Number: 284 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:52 pm: | |
Whatever that building along Woodward in front of the Guardian Building is. What is that building? it is the ugliest thing. Tt blocks the back of the Guardian. It may be the back of the Guardian but I would rather see that than that gold cube building |
Eric_w Member Username: Eric_w
Post Number: 74 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:56 pm: | |
Though not a building the Hart Fountain looks terrible. |
56packman Member Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1166 Registered: 12-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 7:58 pm: | |
Although not downtown (due to the sprawl that has always existed in Detroit) the two HMO buildings on the boulevard at the lodge are as fugly as they come, the wellness plan and that other one. I would actually like to see them covered over with neo-classic drive-it facades. also that round apartment building near WSU on the east side of woodward, the baby-shit brown one with the pods that radiate out at the top. |
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 2623 Registered: 02-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:03 pm: | |
Cathedral Tower (the one east of Wayne) that Packman mentions is ugly but still distinctive and interesting. I think when you combine bad materials with a plain design and bad proportions, then you get an ugly. The design for that particular building is actually a little redeeming. The parking garage next to the Buhl along Larned is atrocious and out of place. |
Downtown_remix Member Username: Downtown_remix
Post Number: 95 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:03 pm: | |
the old cobo hall. that ugly ass orange brick wall facing the detroit river needs to be a free- for-all that wanna sell fugly ass bricks |
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 303 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:03 pm: | |
I have to second Cobo for ugliest building. It looks like crap from the river. And the inside is abosolutely void of any interesting features. |
Downtown_remix Member Username: Downtown_remix
Post Number: 96 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:08 pm: | |
the old cobo hall. that ugly ass orange brick wall facing the detroit river We can get area scalpers to tear that stank monster down for the free bricks |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 444 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:12 pm: | |
"The Frank Murphy Hall of Justice is nothing to write home about. Frank would be disappointed." I was going to mention it, but didn't seeing as it's a court hall. However, it is a hideous building to see if you're commuting in and out of downtown on Gratiot. |
1805 Member Username: 1805
Post Number: 37 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:13 pm: | |
I was on the eve of initiating the exact thread! Millender Center really is abominable. In fact, it's my least favorite; especially for that site. I could say the building would be less atrocious if only they quit construction after the first section between Jefferson and Larned. That extension that hangs over Larned does a good job breaking up that part of downtown. (Message edited by 1805 on March 28, 2007) |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 445 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:15 pm: | |
This is a spin-off thread from the ugliest Midtown structures on the WSU library demolition thread. |
French777 Member Username: French777
Post Number: 125 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:18 pm: | |
First of all how is the REN CEN ugly?? maybe the interior... second how is the compuware ugly the Earnst and Young building I think is just fine. |
Docmo Member Username: Docmo
Post Number: 260 Registered: 10-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:23 pm: | |
The little buildings which house the stairways to the underground parking in GCP. Those structures are 50's butt ugly and very uninviting to those who dare park underground. Homeless people routinely crap behind these structures. Ugh! |
1805 Member Username: 1805
Post Number: 38 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:24 pm: | |
I may be in the minority, but I rather like Frank Murphy and McNamara. I appreciate the concrete exterior theme with governmental buildings. |
Designerguy24 Member Username: Designerguy24
Post Number: 53 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:29 pm: | |
Colman a Young Building is butt ass ugly |
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 925 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 8:43 pm: | |
"Colman a Young Building is butt ass ugly" How? |
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100
Post Number: 658 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 9:21 pm: | |
Millender Center for me. Close in second would be Cobo. |
Tompage Member Username: Tompage
Post Number: 13 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 9:53 pm: | |
#1 for butt ugly: McNamara Building; #2: Joe Louis Arena |
Neilr Member Username: Neilr
Post Number: 477 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 11:04 pm: | |
When the Guardian Building was built, there was a row of existing several story high structures that blocked the lower floors of the rear of the Guardian Building. Those floors were on the back of the building, facing the alley. They were not intended to be seen from Woodward. Some years later, the low rise buildings on Woodward were torn down, exposing the alley side of the Guardian to very public view. That then became the unintended main face of the Guardian. The low dark glass building fronting on Woodward, with its alternating bands of reflective windows was first occupied by a high end commercial design firm, Contract Interiors. Part of the reason for its being on that site, IIRC, was to restore a cover for the alley side of the lower floors of the Guardian Building. In recent years, it has been sadly undermaintained. I remember it being a small jewel box of a building with sparklingly clean bands of windows that set off the Guarding Building which looms above it. |
Psip Member Username: Psip
Post Number: 1690 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 11:09 pm: | |
Neilr, here is a discussion we had about that building in Jan of 2006 https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/62684/62035.html |
Neilr Member Username: Neilr
Post Number: 478 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 11:20 pm: | |
Thanks, Psip, for the link. I was heartened to find out that I'm not the only who likes that building. I especially enjoyed reading 3rdworldcity's post #174. |
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 2626 Registered: 02-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 11:52 pm: | |
People can talk about whatever the hell they want. This is alot better than some of the inflammatory bullshit that comes up from time to time. If we were a group of people sitting around face-to-face, who's to say we wouldn't talk about this topic. |
Mike Member Username: Mike
Post Number: 880 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 12:51 am: | |
JLA, then Cobo. |
Sharmaal Member Username: Sharmaal
Post Number: 1049 Registered: 09-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 12:56 am: | |
Frank Murphy by far. Well, maybe the Cheese Grater. |
Iddude313 Member Username: Iddude313
Post Number: 53 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 1:12 am: | |
this may not count but what about the Detroit/Windsor tunnel building in boring conservative beige! Blech! |
Mayor_sekou Member Username: Mayor_sekou
Post Number: 634 Registered: 09-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 1:22 am: | |
I guess if CL isn't whining about Ann Arbor or crime he has nothing to talk about. Cobo is the worst structure in the city for a lot of reasons along with every garage downtown but the DTE building and its twin takes the cake as the ugliest buildings in the city. |
7even Member Username: 7even
Post Number: 137 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 1:23 am: | |
Cadillac Tower should be on the list. The one side is bare, I know there used to be a building there. Also it looks like the top 7 or so floors should be cut off and put on the ground. http://www.soulfuldetroit.com/ images/cadillacTower.jpg |
Dnvn522 Member Username: Dnvn522
Post Number: 214 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 6:53 am: | |
quote:maybe the Cheese Grater. Definitely! Bank One Building. Hands down, the ugliest building. |
Goat Member Username: Goat
Post Number: 9315 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 8:59 am: | |
CAY building! Damn thing looks like it is ready to fall apart. With the reflective glass miss-matched (I know that some have been replaced and cannot match the existing colour)and the run down look it is a very bland and boring building. |
Fastcarsfreedom Member Username: Fastcarsfreedom
Post Number: 165 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 9:14 am: | |
Look past the ends of your noses. This is the very attitude that led us to destroy era-after-era of architecture that fell out of style and was deemed to be ugly. Why do you think treasures such as the old B-C lobby and the Michigan Theater were converted? All in the name of progress, to erase styles which were out-of-vogue. While mish-mash buildings like Cobo, which has been "partially" renovated too many times have lost their original design heritage--the "cheese grater" is actually a great example of the modernist style popular when it was erected. Someone here referred to it as the "Bank One" building--surprisingly as it belonged to them relatively briefly. For purists it's the "NBD" building, otherwise, it's Chase. |
Quozl Member Username: Quozl
Post Number: 367 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 9:18 am: | |
I personally think this is the ugliest "structure" in Downtown Detroit.
The Dodge Fountain in Hart Plaza takes a close second IMHO. |
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell
Post Number: 3755 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 9:36 am: | |
I am surprised that no one has yet mentioned the "Abomination on Grand Blvd." - the State of Michigan Building that was 'improved' to make it look contemporary.
|
Jonnyfive Member Username: Jonnyfive
Post Number: 33 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 9:36 am: | |
The fist and the fountain? Couldn't disagree more. |
Defendbrooklyn Member Username: Defendbrooklyn
Post Number: 94 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 9:38 am: | |
I love the iron fist... Quozl, you are crazy! |
Kronprinz Member Username: Kronprinz
Post Number: 211 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 9:48 am: | |
I agree with Quozl, it's ugly and divisive |
Quinn Member Username: Quinn
Post Number: 1218 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 9:51 am: | |
No doubt, absolute winner is: The Days Inn on E. Jefferson next to CVS. I don't know who in the City is responsible for letting this monstrosity be built, but they should be shot. Or drowned in the "Indoor Waterfall." I've no recent picture, and the best I could find was on local.live.com but it's a few years old. For those not in the know...they have taken a vintage (horrible and should have been torn down) 60's motel and, using Stone, Brick, Glass Block (am I missing anything here guys), built a pdeudo-hunting lodge slash suburban castle nightmare with seemingly no oversight by any building authority in terms of scale, signage or construction quality (take a look sometime at the brick...you'll throw up). Here's the old motel from the air. Imaging the materials I mentioned, plus a huge roof over that pool enclosing the courtyard, with a covered entrance.
Anyone have photo's of this abortion? I'll try to take pics tonight on my way home. Check back here for photo's people...you won't want to miss this... |
Dnvn522 Member Username: Dnvn522
Post Number: 217 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 9:55 am: | |
quote:-the "cheese grater" is actually a great example of the modernist style popular when it was erected. It's still butt ugly IMO. |
Quinn Member Username: Quinn
Post Number: 1219 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 9:56 am: | |
Photo of some progress (it's further along now) from Model D.
Imagine more brick, stone and glass block. Imagine LARGE signs that read, "Indoor Pool," "Indoor Waterfall," "We let the contractor go crazy and he lives in Macomb County." Imagine shooting yourself in the face. Link: http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/daysinn48.aspx |
Quinn Member Username: Quinn
Post Number: 1220 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 10:00 am: | |
I disagree with NBD/BankOne/Chase building. It's an exceptional example of modernistic architecture...the lobby is breathtaking and the materials and attention to detail in the design is really good. I like the signage that chase has put up...and the building is maintained well. Now, compare it to my Days Inn submission above. No contest, right? |
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 562 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 10:25 am: | |
The City County building and that old rusty walkway over the Lodge to JLA. |
1805 Member Username: 1805
Post Number: 39 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 10:41 am: | |
Ditto regarding the abomination on the Blvd, Lowell. I'm personally not a fan of CAY either. Ideally speaking, if they could just demolish CAY, Millender Center (replace both with redesigned incarnations), Comerica's second garage on Randolph, redesign the base color scheme of 150 W Jefferson (Salmon?) and add a more welcoming entrance, replace Cobo's lettering (I like Cobo) with something backlit instead of big red letters, bulldoze Ford Auditorium and replace it with a state-of-the-art amphitheatre, and tear off the whitewashed siding from the tunnel building to expose the brick... Jefferson Ave would be stylin'. |
Swingline Member Username: Swingline
Post Number: 763 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 11:23 am: | |
Lowell got it right. The 1970's ribbon window cladding of the previously handsome Albert Kahn designed office building on Woodward at the Blvd is an abomination. The building is far worse in person than in Lowell's picture. The materials have always looked cheap and the redesign eliminated a proper sidewalk entrance. The building now evokes all the charm of a KGB headquarters building. One wonders if some architecture or construction firm ever proudly listed the redesign as one of its completed projects. Ugh. |
Quinn Member Username: Quinn
Post Number: 1222 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 11:39 am: | |
About the abomination on the Blvd...I don't think that is at all reversable. I've been in it a few times and I think they removed the exterior and replaced, totally, with that new skin. It's not merely slapped on top of the old one. I agree that this is an abomination, the interior including the lobby and elevators is so cool it leaved you wondering what the exterior used to look like. But come one people...I beg of you...and maybe some solidarity will help me the next time I drive past it (usually cringing and grinding teeth), but can't you reconsider the Day's Inn? I don't know what I'm trying to accomplish here...not like the city would change its mind and say "tear that shit down," but it's in my hood and I have to look at it way too much. It's embarrassing bringing friends over to know they will drive past that. All pumped up talk and description to out-of-towners of Detroit's rebirth and growth is totally smashed when you see that pile of used diapers. |
Blort Member Username: Blort
Post Number: 103 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 11:41 am: | |
Comerica Park is pretty ugly. The half-assed that one. |
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider
Post Number: 290 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 11:48 am: | |
The Millender Center is the epitome of 80s design! and the reskinned building of the Boulevard is just pathetic. Did our taxes pay for that? |
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 1149 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 12:32 pm: | |
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the McNamara Building. |
Jonnyfive Member Username: Jonnyfive
Post Number: 34 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 12:51 pm: | |
I might consider One Kennedy Square a pretty hideous creation... but the one I hate the most is One Woodward Avenue. |
Gistok Member Username: Gistok
Post Number: 3963 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 1:10 pm: | |
Actually, several people did mention the McNamara Building, but I don't think it is as bad as a few others. The worst offenders are IMHO the ones that took an older building, and "modernized" it. Several have already been mentioned. The Boulevard Building (butt ugly), the blue glazed tile County Building on Bagley (wonder what it used to look like before modernization ruined it). And there are 2 other buildings that were very beautiful before they were bastardized in the mid 20th century to their current looks... The United Artists Building. Ever notice that the 4 sides of the building don't even match? And the first 3 floors used to have detailed Corinthian columns, with beautifully detailed arches above the 3rd floor, now it's dark gray unadorned stone, no columns, no arches. The former Michigan Mutual Building on W. Adams on GCP (tallest building on the block). It used to be the Stroh's HQ, and the top was a wonder to behold, with 4 slender Baroque corner pavilions that look like they belonged on a wedding cake, along with other roof top ornamentation. Well look at it today, the top appears quite awkward, and ends abruptly. I also agree to the ugly parking deck next to the Buhl Building. And then there is that building over in the sea of parking lots near W. Adams. Is it a parking deck converted to a building, or a building stripped of an exterior? It is also butt ugly. |
Danindc Member Username: Danindc
Post Number: 2261 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 1:19 pm: | |
McNamara Building (God, I hated working in that disaster) and BCBS, hands-down. The cheese grater is an excellent example of modernism. I'm not a fan of the style, but it's a great example. |
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1275 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 2:04 pm: | |
Not quite downtown, but the ugliest building in all Detroit is Wayne State's Old Main. You may now jump all over me. |
1805 Member Username: 1805
Post Number: 44 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 2:13 pm: | |
Well, Old Main's remodeled interior is horrendous -- as well as the boxy addition. |
3rdworldcity Member Username: 3rdworldcity
Post Number: 584 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 2:48 pm: | |
Could I be that beauty is in fact in the eye of the beholder? |
Stecks77 Member Username: Stecks77
Post Number: 300 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 3:05 pm: | |
The Penobscot is a jumbled mess of unorganized blocks with a bland grey exterior that screams boring! |
Matt_the_deuce Member Username: Matt_the_deuce
Post Number: 721 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 3:08 pm: | |
This whole thread proves that yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and also that everyone is a critic. I think most of you are not liking the "Styles" of these buildings which is your own personal taste. I would say let's raise the bar (or lower it in this case!) and truly pic buildings that are ugly with no merit whatsoever - in other words, ones that transcend style, soaring to new lows! Monstrosity on the Boulevard fits this criterium I think (at least the outer appearance) Detroit does fairly well I'd say compared to even some older cities. Half of midtown New York has some of the ugliest buildings I've ever seen - drab boxes built in the 60's and 70's that only go unnoticed because of all the great buildings around them. Per capita, Detroit does surprisingly well. |
Quinn Member Username: Quinn
Post Number: 1223 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 3:22 pm: | |
Matt-the-deuce...nicely put and I agree with you. My most hated submission, the Day's Inn, and one I haven't gotten anyone else to agree too (grrr), is architectural blasphemy. Poor planning, no oversight, horrible quality...and since it's under construction, a horrible representation of the city and its "rebirth." (IE. If this is a rebirth...who needs it? Scared of it.) |
Mikem Member Username: Mikem
Post Number: 3230 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 3:40 pm: | |
I'm trying to picture the Road Commission building on Bagley which Psip mentions. Would this be the one?
|
Dnvn522 Member Username: Dnvn522
Post Number: 222 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 3:42 pm: | |
quote:The cheese grater is an excellent example of modernism. I'm not a fan of the style, but it's a great example. That may be. Then it's definitely an ugly style. ;) |
Psip Member Username: Psip
Post Number: 1696 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 3:42 pm: | |
Thats it MikeM. Thanks. Something about that building gives me the willies. |
Mikem Member Username: Mikem
Post Number: 3231 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 3:51 pm: | |
Come on man, where's the love for the cheese grater? It was the late 1950s, everyone was tired of dirty, gray buildings from their parents generation. We were a new superpower. Life was good. Thunderbirds and Corvettes. My grandmother walked the streets in the heat of summer in a skirt down to her ankles and a collar up to her chin. Now it's mini-skirt time. Jet airplanes. We're going to the moon! Who wants to build another Buhl or Penobscot?
|
Gistok Member Username: Gistok
Post Number: 3971 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:00 pm: | |
Some of you have included in your ugly list... WSU's Old Main... Yamasaki's One Woodward Ave., and Penobscot Building.... May I recommend an ophthalmologist? |
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100
Post Number: 660 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:04 pm: | |
I will definitely second Gistok's suggestion. |
Danindc Member Username: Danindc
Post Number: 2263 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:08 pm: | |
Penobscot = perhaps Detroit's finest Art Deco building Although after looking at a Yamasaki building, an ophthamologist isn't a half-bad idea. |
Quinn Member Username: Quinn
Post Number: 1224 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:09 pm: | |
Add another agreement...I "Third" that suggestion. |
The_rock Member Username: The_rock
Post Number: 1662 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:14 pm: | |
WOW-lots of ugly buildings in this town according to all these posts. Was the AIA justified in skipping over Detroit in naming its "top 150 structures"? |
Dnvn522 Member Username: Dnvn522
Post Number: 223 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:16 pm: | |
quote:Come on man, where's the love for the cheese grater? LOL! The same place as everyone else's love for the city building. |
Matt_the_deuce Member Username: Matt_the_deuce
Post Number: 723 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:22 pm: | |
I like the city building - nice vertical lines, lots of glass (not tinted brown), nice clean white marble, good massing/proportion - efficient design. Our little UN building. |
Stecks77 Member Username: Stecks77
Post Number: 303 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:29 pm: | |
Agreed Rock. This is a ridiculously stupid thread. Especially when the depth of conversation is just as limited as a 4 year old telling his mom why he likes chocolate over vanilla. And for the record I'm a big fan of the Penobscot so disregard my prior troll message. (Message edited by stecks77 on March 29, 2007) |
Sumotect Member Username: Sumotect
Post Number: 269 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:33 pm: | |
I am not that good of a critic because I tend to like most all buildings, because I know what goes in to making them. I like many buildings that some people hate. I can usually see what someone was trying to do and I generally cut them some slack. Many ugly buildings can grow on you over time, like a funny looking kid or an ugly dog. You need bad buildings to let you know how good the good ones really are. But I have to preface that with saying there are several buildings that I absolutely despise. One is that mixed use thing on Wayne’s campus just south of the Cass Café. It is where WDET is now. Ever notice that DET went down the tubes shortly after they moved into that POS. Nothing says “I want to be in Bingham Farms” quite like that scale-less, monotone monstrosity. I used to work for the firm that did it. And luckily I was gone long before that turd came into the office. Thank god that firm is out of business now. |
Fastcarsfreedom Member Username: Fastcarsfreedom
Post Number: 166 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:42 pm: | |
Imagine how BLAND Woodward would be without Yamasaki's MichCon building and the Cheese Grater. Mikem said it best--those buildings scream out from their era, and it's a beautiful scream--love modernism, downtown would be boring without it. (Message edited by fastcarsfreedom on March 29, 2007) |
Quinn Member Username: Quinn
Post Number: 1225 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 4:58 pm: | |
I disagree...I love this thread. Ugly architecture is a passion of mine, just under great architecture. Hahahha. For a long time, one of the biggest travesties I've been screaming about is the Au Bon Pain in Campus Martius. Not that it's so ugly, but its location. Driving down Woodward, what is the visitor confronted with? Great architecture befitting a great American City? No...a 1 story, grey cinder-block, strip-mall-like building. You'd never see that in Millenium park in Chicago. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 446 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 5:04 pm: | |
Hey, my thread has 85 posts, so it can't be too pointless you trolls. |
Danindc Member Username: Danindc
Post Number: 2264 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 5:08 pm: | |
Quinn, if you like bad design, you'll enjoy this site: www.notfoolinganybody.com |
Stecks77 Member Username: Stecks77
Post Number: 307 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 5:12 pm: | |
Urbanize: Don't get me wrong, you had good intentions. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 447 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 5:14 pm: | |
Wasn't trying to make it a offensive thread, just a thread where people list their opinions on odd, kinda misplaced buildings in Downtown. |
Stecks77 Member Username: Stecks77
Post Number: 308 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 5:26 pm: | |
Its not offensive, just frustrating. |
Sumotect Member Username: Sumotect
Post Number: 270 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 6:55 pm: | |
I will second that comment about Au Bon Pain if ever there was a site that called out for a building with a little “presence” to it, that would be the place. That building would never happen in Chicago or New York. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 470 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007 - 7:05 pm: | |
bump |
Jjw Member Username: Jjw
Post Number: 282 Registered: 10-2005
| Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007 - 7:12 pm: | |
i vote cobo--it is a big block of cement. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 475 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007 - 8:05 pm: | |
yes, COBO is very ugly also. What does it stand for anyway? The name even sounds ugly. |
Eric Member Username: Eric
Post Number: 739 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007 - 8:17 pm: | |
What does it stand for? Nothing, it's named for Albert Cobo the mayor from 1950-1957 |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 476 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007 - 8:19 pm: | |
Uhhhh, still is one heck of a last name to get stuck with. |
Masterblaster Member Username: Masterblaster
Post Number: 22 Registered: 03-2005
| Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007 - 11:30 pm: | |
Ugliest - The Trolley plaza Also, 1. the Bricktown parking garage 2. The parking garage across the street from the federal courthouse 3. The parking garage next to the National Theatre on Monroe 4. The one-story credit union with attached parking lot across the street from Channel 4 |
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 730 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 12:16 am: | |
The black DTE building downtown has to be up there near one of the ugliest! |
Spitcoff Member Username: Spitcoff
Post Number: 96 Registered: 03-2004
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 12:44 am: | |
the projects just north of 94 and 75 I hate looking at them every time I go downtown |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 169 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 2:21 pm: | |
I agree with Quozl. Lets fist the "Fist" |
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 323 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 2:32 pm: | |
Haha I see why some find this thread frustrating. Get rid of the Fist??? It's so bizarre and unique, even if you don't think it's great looking, you have to admit it adds a lot of character. |
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 1963 Registered: 06-2004
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 3:53 pm: | |
The Riverfront condos - hate 'em - ship 'em back to Russia |
Aiw Member Username: Aiw
Post Number: 6222 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 4:37 pm: | |
Sigh...
quote:CAY building!... it is a very bland and boring building. I disagree with the negative statements about the CAY building. It is a wonderful example of late 1950's architecture. You want to talk ugly? Head down Michigan Ave. towards the federal buildings... |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 482 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 4:45 pm: | |
Those buildings along Park Ave. (Park Apts. and that building on the other side from Hotel Park Ave. behind the FOX) are both ugly, Pre-WWII ugly. |
Milwaukee Member Username: Milwaukee
Post Number: 1112 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 4:48 pm: | |
Joe Louis Arena |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 484 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 4:49 pm: | |
The Parking Garage builing is too and even the Fil Exchange building to an extent. The old Paring garage is what Ilitch needs to be demolishing. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 485 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 4:49 pm: | |
The Parking Garage builing on Clifford is too and even the Film Exchange building to an extent. The old Paring garage is what Ilitch needs to be demolishing. |
Broken_main Member Username: Broken_main
Post Number: 1194 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 5:37 pm: | |
My say on the fugliest buildings would be these 3 Trolley Plaza Joe Louis Arena McNamara Building |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 489 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 5:44 pm: | |
I actually don't think Trolley plaza is ugly. It's bearable compared to some other buildings along Washington. |
Broken_main Member Username: Broken_main
Post Number: 1198 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 6:04 pm: | |
Urbanize...It just has that blah look. Nothing flashy No glitz. There are a lot of buildings that. I put in this category. What other buildings on Washington don't you like? I'm curious. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 491 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 6:06 pm: | |
COBO HALL! Also, the building at the corner of Michigan isn't all that pretty either. |
Broken_main Member Username: Broken_main
Post Number: 1199 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 6:37 pm: | |
Cobo Hall is ugly as well. Which one on Michigan are you referring to? |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 494 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 6:39 pm: | |
The one on the NW corner. |
Young_detroiter Member Username: Young_detroiter
Post Number: 185 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 12:55 am: | |
PROBLEMS AND POTENTIAL ENHANCEMENTS: COMERICA TOWER - The tower would look a lot better if adorned by anything other than cathedral-like spires. REN CEN - The four satellite towers would look extremely better is they all resembled the central, core tower and the other two that are offset. THE JEFFERSONIAN (Apartment tower) - The name may not be popular, but the ugly heap of mess has to be a sore to every eye. This building sits on the southwest side of Jefferson Ave. between Downtown and Belle Isle. MILLENDER CENTER (apartments) - Something went wrong with this complex - Oh, yeah...it was actually built. CHENE PARK AMPHITHEATRE - Chene Park's tent-like roof irks me. What's more disturbing is that the rooftop has become a potential trend-setter. Throughout our CBD will be enormous tents. PARKING GARAGES - (particularly along the riverfront) 10-story parking garages should never decorate the riverfront, even if they do have first floor retail. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 508 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 1:04 am: | |
Oh wow Young Detroiter, I was thinkin about Comerica Tower and the Jeffersonian also. They are VERY ugly. |
Island Member Username: Island
Post Number: 35 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 1:36 am: | |
I vote for that building with the plywood covering the door and windows, with all the great spray- painted stuff...I forget the name... |