A travel website thinks the multi-floor Humanities Building on the main Albuquerque campus of the University of New Mexico looks like “the worst brick-laying job we’ve ever seen.”
That critique is part of a 50-state survey conducted by Travel.alot.com called “The Ugliest Building in Every State.”
The UNM structure, completed in 1974, is particularly burdened by windows arranged by a designer who was seemingly “actively trying to prevent natural light.”
The only thing good that the site can say about the 42,400 square foot structure is that it isn’t like a handful of buildings built in Los Alamos, the work of the same designer, W.C. Kruger and Associates.
“At least this building won’t give you radiation poisoning,” notes Travel.alot.
Arizona is taken to task for its famous Tempe City Hall building, otherwise known as the upside down pyramid. Designed by architects Kemper Goodwin and Michael Goodwin and completed in 1971, the structure is proof that pyramid making should be left to the ancient Egyptians: “They at least had sense enough to build them right-side up,” says the site.
In perhaps one of its most controversial choices, Travel.alot negatively critiques the 146,000 square foot Frederick C. Hamilton Building, which is a part of the larger Denver Art Museum. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, it was completed in 2006.
“This design doesn’t scream ‘art museum’ as much as it screams ‘supervillain’s lair,’” the site says of the structure, before asking: “Why is it that art museums are frequently designed to look like the most unappealing, unartistic buildings possible?”
Travel.alot, based in Little Rock, Arkansas, additionally provides lists of the best and worst sports stadiums in the country, vacation destinations, and fastest-growing cities, among other topics.
In compiling its ugliest building list, the site asks readers: “Would you like to see these replaced with something more beautiful?”
By Garry Boulard
