Back in 2000, Urban Realm, a Scottish architecture magazine, launched an annual award for the worst new architecture in Scotland. Called the Carbuncle Award, it inspired UK magazine Building Design to craft the Carbuncle Cup beginning in 2006 for “the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months.”
I’m sure had there been a Carbuncle prize in China, the above “donut” office building would have certainly made the short list in 2015 from an overflowing number of examples of bad architecture. The donut is 33 stories tall and resembled old Chinese coins with holes in the middle. It also forms an “8” when reflected in the river – a very lucky number for the Chinese.
Given Dallas’ overwhelming pace of (often) cheap, bad architecture, I think a Carbuncle or two is in order. Keeping the “carbuncle” theme, I’m christening the Dallas award the Carbuncle Crown. In this first attempt/year, I’m going to ask for entries in two categories …
Ugliest Building in Dallas (regardless of year built – to catch us up)
Ugliest Building in Dallas 2018 (built in the past 12 months)
Entries can be anything – single-family home, townhome, apartment building, skyscraper, commercial, municipal (museum, public sculpture, bridge, etc.), or even a particularly bad home addition.
Entries must be submitted before September 30, 2018. We’ll feature entries on Daltxrealestate.com in October where you can vote for the top pick. I’m not sure how we’ll deliver the award, but I’m currently thinking of a gala awards banquet at Arby’s.
Yes, I’m serious. Snap a picture of the offending building (or an address if it’s well known), pick a category, jot a few thoughts on why it should win and email it to [email protected]. Submissions will be anonymous, so architects ashamed of their clients’ demands are encouraged to submit their own works (or that of their colleagues). Multiple entries are encouraged.
While I expect there will be a lot of entries for recently built apartment buildings, there is plenty of schlock to go around, especially in the “all around” category.
But beware …
Looking over the past “winners” and nominees for the original Carbuncle Cup prizes, a few have become revered over the years. Also, more than a few were designed by world-class architectural firms including Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Rem Koolhaas, and Pelli Clarke Pelli of Dallas’ McKinney and Olive fame. Above is 20 Fenchurch Street in London, affectionately known as the Walkie-Talkie. This office building took home the Carbuncle Cup in 2015 but should be noted that it was 98 percent leased at opening and contains a massive garden in its glass-topped public penthouse.
Of course most are well deserved. Within London’s Hyde Park are the pair of Serpentine Galleries. Each year an acclaimed architect builds a temporary pavilion. Nominated for a 2006 Carbuncle Cup, Rem Koolhaas, Cecil Balmond and Arup erected inflated this … bouncy snow globe …ode to Jiffy Pop … giant’s 1960’s hair dryer.
The 2006 Carbuncle Cup winner was the Drake Circus shopping center in Plymouth (perhaps beating Koolhaas because of its permanence?). Proving taste is subjective, the following year Retail Week magazine awarded it “Shopping Location of the Year,” which, strictly speaking, seems more a comment on location than architecture.
So Dallas, now’s your chance to name and shame the perpetrators of bad architecture in our fair city. Don’t disappoint!
Remember: High-rises, HOAs and renovation are my beat. But I also appreciate modern and historical architecture balanced against the YIMBY movement. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, the National Association of Real Estate Editors recognized my writing with three Bronze (2016, 2017, 2018) and two Silver (2016, 2017) awards. Have a story to tell or a marriage proposal to make? Shoot me an email [email protected]. Be sure to look for me on Facebook and Twitter. You won’t find me, but you’re welcome to look.
