Deathreaper posted:

I think Ottawa could fill up this entire thread. Most tourist locations in the city such as the Parliament hill, the ByWard market and the large number of museums scattered throughout the city don’t accurately convey the bland soviet era brutalist architecture which makes up a very large part of the city. A quote which sums up the city quite well: Ottawa Citizen architecture critic Rhys Phillips has echoed these concerns, saying that Ottawa "looks like some tired little Prairie town on its last legs.”. Let’s get started with some of my favourite architectural monstrosities (AKA half the city once you go south of Wellington Street past the parliament buildings).
University of Ottawa and surrounding areas

The University of Ottawa flak tower also serves as a library from time to time.

Giant complex of bland apartments south of campus. Lots of students rent apartments in these buildings.

Downtown Core

Lovely 8 or 9 story windowless block of concrete sitting right in the middle of down town Ottawa. Building takes up about half a block and casts shade all around it. I think it serves as a large mechanical building for a telecom in the region.


Your average Government of Canada monstrosity built in the 1970’s. Usually packed with asbestos and featuring poor ventilation – as you can imagine employees are sick half the time. Unfortunately the Government of Canada owns a lot of these awful properties throughout the city which really the area a bad look. “In an era of political discontent over high taxes it was even a priority that the buildings not be cheap, but also look cheap so that visitors from the regions wouldn't feel that the federal government was wasting their money in Ottawa.”

Here are some of the awful condos in the downtown core. No this is not the Soviet Union and more shocking is that people actually buy these with their money… Condo fees are insanely high for these types of building which probably reflects upkeep cost due to the age and cheapness of the building

Another apartment

The police station

The library

The National Arts Center, another giant slab of concrete

View from the Parliament (lol we ran out of money for windows OR planning was so bad the building supposed to be behind was never built)

Note that this doesn't even cover a tenth of the terrible crap in Ottawa. Multiply the asbestos filled bland government buildings and Soviet style condo / apartment towers scattered throughout the area and that should give you a pretty good feel for the city. Ottawa is a city where architecture goes to die.

Deathreaper posted:

Giant complex of bland apartments south of campus. Lots of students rent apartments in these buildings.

Say Nothing posted:

Drink Cheerwine posted:

this thread is illegal and belongs in the architecture and urban design subforum

Schwarbage posted:

I always liked the look of the metrodome. It's like a big pillow full of sports. Why the hell don't the build more stadiums like this?


Ohhhhh

nomadologique posted:

why is it wildly impractical?

Deathreaper posted:

Downtown Core

Lovely 8 or 9 story windowless block of concrete sitting right in the middle of down town Ottawa. Building takes up about half a block and casts shade all around it. I think it serves as a large mechanical building for a telecom in the region.

5er posted:

That house is for people that want to get photographed for being rich fucks up on a great big hill where everyone can see them.

Vernii posted:

MOVE ALONG CITIZEN

Deathreaper posted:

Downtown Core

Lovely 8 or 9 story windowless block of concrete sitting right in the middle of down town Ottawa. Building takes up about half a block and casts shade all around it. I think it serves as a large mechanical building for a telecom in the region.

fyodor posted:

yes those large windowless buildings are telephone switching centers, now probably converted to data centers. machine no need window.

Vernii posted:

Yea, personally I think they're pretty awesome, but its also amusing that they are giant windowless concrete fortresses in an age where everything else seems to compete to see how much glass can be shoved into onto the facades.

Vernii posted:

Yea, personally I think they're pretty awesome, but its also amusing that they are giant windowless concrete fortresses in an age where everything else seems to compete to see how much glass can be shoved into onto the facades.

Vernii posted:

MOVE ALONG CITIZEN

MSPain posted:

I'd like to see the inside of one of those telecom buildings. How much of that space is being used? Are there really zero humans that work there day to day?

Sharpe posted:

I lived in the building on the left for 16 years. Until they renovated, the hallways were carpeted in Chinese red with matching wallpaper. It was like walking through a blood vessel.

fyodor posted:

all the case study houses have aspects that are not very practical and a lot of other elements that are pretty forward-thinking. they used off-the-shelf materials to make otherworldly designs by some of the best designers and architects of the 20th century.

Vernii posted:

MOVE ALONG CITIZEN

Billmac posted:

My loving university. Also consider this is in Canada, so try traversing this windblown hellscape at -40.






Edit: the whole drat thing is sinking into the ground at like 30cm/year, thank god.

Billmac posted:

My loving university. Also consider this is in Canada, so try traversing this windblown hellscape at -40.

QUEEN CAUCUS posted:

From OCAD in Toronto here is this ugly piece of poo poo

Job Truniht posted:

Worst loving building on campus.

ALL-PRO SEXMAN posted:

In another context this would look cool. I'm just not at all sure what that context would be.

Flagrant Abuse posted:

Filed under "beautiful but moronic" we have Sagrada Familia.



What makes it moronic? It broke ground in the 1880s and is estimated to still be at least ten years from completion, despite having been worked on for almost all the entire intervening time except during the Spanish Civil War.

ArtIsResistance posted:

my quick association of the word condo with the city of toronto came in handy when reading the op of the thread