What is the piece of architecture in your city that causes visitors to say....

[HEyHEY]

"What the fuck is that thing?"

Here it's Science world, un creatively refereed to as "The golfball." It's a leftover from the 1986 world's fair.

[PeaceNikki]

1. Easy

Milwaukee Art Museum



And the Sunburst

[HEyHEY]

2. Which I love, BTW

[PeaceNikki]

4. And Miller Park

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. The art museum is a stunning, beautiful, amazing bit of architecture

[PeaceNikki]

8. Indeed. Have you been there?

Here are couple pics I took of it from the lake

[JVS]

16. strongly vaginal

[PeaceNikki]

17. Well we needed something to offset all of the phallic structures.

[XemaSab]

26. Calatrava

:toast:

[PeaceNikki]

28. His first US building.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

62. I love it!

The art museum, that is. The sunburst...meh.

[drmeow]

78. Wow

That museum is cool.

[jane_pippin]

100. I love the art museum. It's so neat in there--it's like a futuristic spaceship.

I hate the stupid Orange Thing™ though.

[PeaceNikki]

105. The stupid Orange Thing™ reminds me of being a kid.

The mother of my best friend growing up was an artist and we spent a lot of time with her down there at the old at museum. Driving into downtown via Wisconsin Ave wouldn't be the same without it.

I go to the new one whenever I get the chance. Here are a few more photos I took (for those who've never been).

[kedrys]

3. The Montreal Casino

It used to be the Klingon Embassy or something. :P

[ironflange]

49. I remember that building

It was originally the French Pavilion at Expo 67.

[kedrys]

66. Then they turned it into the Palace of Civilization

before it became the casino. The third building was built by and for the casino, as an annex to what used to be the French and Quebec pavilions at Expo 67.

One of the cool things about being sort of a tourist in my own home town is finding out all kinds of neat things like that.

:hi:

[ironflange]

50. dupe

strange

[electricmonk]

6. Our new art museum

It's most common nickname is "the wreck of the flying nun". I kinda like it but it wouldn't have been my first choice of designs.

Webcam of the building under construction. http://www.artmuseumroanoke.org/index.php?do=the_future:am-cam

[billyskank]

7. I saw that thing a few times when I visited your town

though I never saw it lit up like that.

[KitchenWitch]

9. This is in Minneapolis (which I still consider home though I reside elsewhere)

[PeaceNikki]

11. What IS that?

[KitchenWitch]

12. It is the Weisman Art Museum

on the University of Minnesota campus.

[billyskank]

13. What the fuck is that?

:wtf:

You're right, it works.

[HEyHEY]

15. that MUST be a frank ghery

[KitchenWitch]

23. why, yes it is!

:crazy:

[Twillig]

19. That looks like it's across from Comstock.

I know it wasn't there back in '86!

[KitchenWitch]

41. It is indeed across from Comstock Hall.

[Liberal_in_LA]

58. looks kinda like the Los angeles concert hall.

[KitchenWitch]

67. I just googled the concert hall. It is the same architect.

[Liberal_in_LA]

72. I thought it might be...swooping, curvy, shiny walls.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

98. Reminds me of a cubist painting...

It's kind of cool...

[Texasgal]

10. Frost Bank tower downtown Austin, TX

[jobycom]

89. Or as my kids call it, the Totoro Building

[LeftyMom]

14. The Ziggeraut and Vader Tower.

Images both flickrsnatched from unknown sources.

[XemaSab]

27. I have been to the top of Vader Tower

:patriot:

[AlCzervik]

43. oh yeah on both, the now defunct money store.

[sniffa]

18. The stone penis

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6c/Abigail_Adams_Cairn,_Quincy,_Massachusetts.JPG/300px-Abigail_Adams_Cairn,_Quincy,_Massachusetts.JPG

[jobycom]

91. The Austin Motel's sign is a famous landmark

And yeah, it looks like one of those.

[sniffa]

20. From my hometown

[Xipe Totec]

21. The MIT Stata Center

[MorningGlow]

22. Whoops never mind

I posted a sculpture, not architecture. I'll have a little looksee around and see if I can find some stupid looking building.

[csziggy]

24. The Florida State Capitol Building

[LeftyMom]

33. Wow. That's just fugly.

Also, setting a large phallic structure between two structures capped by domes creates a certain, masculine effect, shall we say.

[csziggy]

35. I a bizarre way, the old capital in the building makes it slightly hermaphroditic

since it looks like a clitoris....:eyes:

[Arugula Latte]

86. That looks like it should be in Brasilia

[XemaSab]

25. It looks like a barrel cactus

Our "WTF" is the Sundial Bridge.



I'm still a little torn over it. If you're right there, it's pretty cool. If you see it from far away it looks like a construction site. :P

[JeffR]

29. Has to be this:

Daniel Libeskind's recent addition to the Royal Ontario Museum, seen here with a World Against War protest going by:

[JTG of the PRB]

30. My town (Boulder) doesn't really have one... Denver, on the other hand...

[greendog]

44. Boulder has a couple.

[JTG of the PRB]

81. I don't recognize the second picture, but I know the first one very well.

A very short distance from where my parents live, in fact! When we were younger, my sister and I always used to call it the Stay-Puft Marshmallow House.

[greendog]

96. Second picture is NCAR.

It's above Boulder by the Flatirons.

[JTG of the PRB]

118. Ah. I just didn't recognize the angle the picture was taken at.

NCAR was my first thought, but I didn't want to misguess and look stupid about my own hometown. :P

[fizzgig]

45. those are the first pics of that i've seen

and i did say 'wtf is that' until i realized it had to be the new museum

[JTG of the PRB]

82. I haven't been down to see it yet, but my parents have.

They say it's pretty awesome. I kind of like really weird architecture, especially on a large scale.

[alphafemale]

31. Natives of Savannah love the weird. Like this.

Here's some info about it.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/336

[JeffR]

37. Cool. I used to live 5 minutes away from it,

though back then, it was painted to resemble a generic kid's globe, with national boundaries, countries in different colors and lines for the equator, etc.

[alphafemale]

92. Couldn't find a pic of the other side. It has a pic of Hugo bearing down on the coast.

For the longest time it was painted spinning the wrong way.

The "kids globe" was really falling into disrepair before this was done to it.

[alphafemale]

32. Delete. Double post.

[Midlodemocrat]

34. That would be my house.

It's a legend all its own.

[madrchsod]

36. we have a statue..."the flying penis"

actually it`s the "wings of peace" dedicated to ron reagan by an eastern europe sculptor who thought ronnie liberated him.....sad but true

[Lucy Goosey]

38. Probably the Canadian War Museum

In Ottawa, the nation's capital.

[MsTryska]

39. Can't think fo any architecture

But Downtonw Atlanta does seem to have a penchant for poopy-reminisecent sculpture...below is an example:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zrq9VbfsdhA/RtjVBr6rEDI/AAAAAAAAAKI/Y1tflnd6WJ0/803107+023.jpg

[wickerwoman]

40. How to pick just one...

I live in Shanghai... the world's capital of "let's put a random hole in the middle of this building"

Here's the plug-ugly World Financial Center dwarfing the more attractive and architecturally relevant Jin Mao Tower.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=330791

Picture three on this page show Shanghai's love affair with rejects from the Jetson's set:

http://urbannaturegroup.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

The Marriott Hotel, inspired by some nastier instruments found at the dentist's:



The worst of the UFO buildings:

http://www.lifeformz.com/weblog/2007/06/asian-european-russian-ufo-architecture.html

I guess he missed the intended landing pad, here, the Shanghai Opera House:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_butler/519290619/

Here's Shanghai's homage to Stalinism, the Exhibition Center:

http://www.culture.sh.cn/english/venue_detail.asp?venueid=120

And finally, please god don't actually build this monstrosity, even as a joke:

http://www.architettura21.eu/2007/10/14/ren-peoples-building-shanghai.html

(It's designed to look like the Chinese character for "people"... isn't that nice?)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

42. Probably the Flatiron Building.

[mainegreen]

47. No way. That building is beautiful.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

52. It is, but it has a "WTF" appeal to it as well.

[mainegreen]

46. The USM library. It's I guess one of the best examples of Industrial Cubism around.

Theoretically it was also about 100 years ahead of its time in construction technique and lighting technique.

But upon first glance, everyone goes 'What the fuck is that?'

[WritingIsMyReligion]

107. HAHAHA yes.

USM is just an....interesting....place. :D

[GoddessOfGuinness]

48. The LDS Temple...

You drive around the Washington Beltway in Maryland, trying to avoid the weavers and wack-os, when suddenly it appears:

prompting people to break into "When you wish upon a star", or decorate a nearby railroad bridge with the words "SURRENDER DOROTHY"

I really miss the grafitti...

[Ava]

56. i saw that church when we flew into baltimore for a trip to DC

weird and kind of scary

[GoddessOfGuinness]

61. A friend of mine from NYC was riding with me in the car when he first saw it...

We were chatting about something or other when all of a sudden his jaw dropped. "What the hell is that?!?"
I drive the Beltway so much that I'd almost forgotten it was there...

[Rhythm]

59. I know the overpass trestle you're talking about...

I saw that painted up there once, and i damn near wrecked my car laughing.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

63. The vandals were very persistent...

The bridge would be cleaned, and a few weeks later, the grafitti would be back. The LDS people took offense. Too bad they couldn't laugh at themselves a bit.

[Rhythm]

65. Anyone who'd EVER driven through there at night couldn't help but see the similarity

Seriously...

[Arugula Latte]

87. I'm sorry, but Mormons have some freakyass architecture for their temples

I used to live in the Bay Area, and there is a similarly freaky one in the Oakland Hills:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

97. There's something mildly Islamic about that...

[crim son]

51. There is really nothing here in Bangor that stands out.

We have gorgeous old buildings, many of which have fallen into disrepair, and ugly strip malls and the familiar fast food joints and big box stores. Small town U.S.A. I guess the one building that is famous is our Water Tower:

[ironflange]

53. I can't really think of anything

Calgary's just a bunch of glass boxes. They're just getting started on this thing though:



No, wait, it's gonna be a monstrosity.

Does this count as a building? Vancouver's loss is our gain.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

69. That last one is COOL AS HELL.

What is that?!

[ironflange]

71. It's an upside-down church

Sheesh, what does it look like?!?

But seriously folks, here's the story: http://vancitybuzz.blogspot.com/2008/09/upside-down-church-sculpture-vancouvers.html

There's another sculpture here I really like:



http://www.cbe.ab.ca/faqs/statues.asp

I remember back in the '70's, when they came here, people started petitions to get rid of them, or at least give them some clothes. :eyes:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

74. I knew what it was...

...I just thought maybe there was a point to it. Maybe a caption or something?
Thanks for making me feel dumb.
Duckie

[ironflange]

111. Sorry, I was just teasing

Didn't mean to offend.

[Liberal_in_LA]

73. OMG! That church thingy! amazing.

[FloridaJudy]

54. The French Fries from Hell

Outside the Nuclear Engineering department, appropriately enough. What happens when you expose a fryer at Micky Dee's to plutonium.

[Ava]

55. i live in a small town

plain small downtown area(which i actually think is pretty) and then lots of trees :P

so we have no weird architecture

[Rhythm]

57. Where i grew up... Charlotte NC's STILL scratching it's head at this one.

The bell tower at UNCC, which looks like a 15-story tall vibrator.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

60. In Tokyo, the Fuji Broadcasting Center

?

[mainegreen]

64. What the hell?

That's damned ugly. Like a tinker toy set threw up in a future time warp.

[RetroLounge]

68. The Bronze Fonz

:wtf:



RL

[PeaceNikki]

70. HEyHEY met the Bronze Fonz a couple weeks ago.

:D

[HEyHEY]

76. Would that be THIS bronze Fonz?

[jane_pippin]

101. There's no WTF about the Bronze Fonz.

It is what it is. Sit on it! :D

[RetroLounge]

109. Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

:rofl:

:hi:

RL

[jane_pippin]

113. Well it's true. Have you been down there yet?

When we went, there was this lady there doing face painting and offering the history of all things Fonz and Bronze Fonz. It was weird. I kind of hope she's there all the time, but I didn't want to get into a whole thing with her so I didn't ask.

And :hi: back at you

[Liberal_in_LA]

75. Will America be producing cutting edge architecture now that Bush has tanked the economy?

Most of the cutting edge architecture seems to be coming from Asia and Dubai lately.

[foxfeet]

77. The Experience Music Project

It looks like a pile of crap on acid.

[SeattleGirl]

80. I was going to say that. And here's a pic:

The thing is, the inside is beautiful!

I love this centerpiece:

[Drum]

79. NYC: site of the World Trade Center

7 years of dicking around, and this is all there is.

WTF???

:(

[BrklynLiberal]

83. And the proposed results are not really worth the wait...

Freedom tower


Transit hub

[jmowreader]

114. What is that supposed to be, a stegosaurus or something?

[drmeow]

84. Patriot's Park

?v=0

?v=0

Classic 70's WTF is that ... it was (still is?) equipped with a laser light system for laser shows which I guess never really worked. Its going to be torn down in the name of development (to much controversy - I'm pissed they are replacing open space with mixed use buildings). A lot of people absolutely hate it. I actually like it.

I think this sculpture, when it is finished, is going to replace it as the WTF item in downtown Phoenix (floating sculpture in Civic Space Park). It is SUPPOSED to be a cactus flower. I won't say what I think it looks like:


One recent building I don't like that is closer to home (Tempe rather than Phoenix) is on ASU's campus:
The ISTB2 building (I'm not into that rusted poured concrete exposed pipes industrial look)
http://www.asu.edu/tour/tempe/istb2.html

ISTB1 is more interesting (it actually looks less weird from the ground) although the inside is VERY poorly designed for a research building (that's what you get when you let architects design without talking to the people who will be working in the building):
http://www.asu.edu/tour/tempe/istb1.html)

This one was just torn down but after a protracted fight I understand they preserved the roof (where they put it and what they are going to do with it I don't know):

?v=0

And here's the brand new Tempe Center for the Arts:



Just some of the interesting buildings around Phoenix and Tempe

[BrklynLiberal]

85. Yep. It's another museum...The Guggenheim

[EFerrari]

88. This is all I can really think of:

:rofl:

[LibDemAlways]

90. In So Cal it just has to be

Angelyne.....

[elshiva]

93. Baltimore's Washington Monument.

Even more phallic than Washington, D.C.'s Washington monument. Why does "The Father of Our Country" have to be remembered by two gigantic stone penises? I think he would not approve. :(

[billyskank]

94. I think it's alright

It's not really so different from Nelson's Column.



:hi:

[elshiva]

95. It all goes back to Trajan's column in Rome.

There is an ancient pillar in Rome which used to have the Emperor Trajan's statue on it. Christians replaced it with a statue of St. Peter.

[mainegreen]

99. I used to wait for the School bus in that square a lot.

It's not so bad.

Considering what the rest of Baltimore looks like.

:P

[tekisui]

102. No buildings that say WTF, but we do have this piece of art

in front of the Federal Building. I big piece of rusty metal in Asheville.

[backwoodsbob]

103. yet another sculpture

Joe Louis fist in Detroit

[ghostsofgiants]

115. One half of the world's largest terrorist fist jab?

[mopinko]

104. the ruth ford house, by bruce goff.

more about the place here.

http://web.mac.com/mo_clay/iWeb/ruthfordhouse/welcome.html

[NashVegas]

106. AKA "The Bat Building"

Nashville's BellSouth Tower (now AT & T)



Then there's this:

[huskerlaw]

108. The Disney Concert Hall...

A pox on you, Frank Gehry!

I was in a car with a bunch of out of towners on Friday night and I warned them this monstrosity was just around the corner. They still gasped in horror.

[tishaLA]

110. I live very near that--4 blocks--and pass it every day

it's one of my favorite pieces of architecture in the world. But then again, The Guggenheim Bilbao is probably my favorite, so....

[huskerlaw]

112. I work in a Gehry-designed building

and I disdain him. Interesting buildings from the outside, completely unusable on the inside (at least this is the case with my building). I hate it when architects go for form over function. Yes, it's nice to have interesting things to look at, but some poor sap has to try to make it WORK for its intended purpose as well.

[AngryAmish]

116. Is that a wig store?

[kwassa]

117. I saw this in Seattle last summer

Frank, of course.