# Ugly City Halls: Does Toronto's Top the List?



## Iluminat (Jan 16, 2008)

dark_shadow1 said:


> Brutalism+stupid cladding=epic fail.


Idea is not bad at all but the material seem to be quite old and dirty


----------



## arzaranh (Apr 23, 2004)

jayks1 said:


> Hey, I'm from the Toronto area and I can't help notice how ugly the current Toronto city hall is (bellow) and cannot understand 1) why it was built in the first place? 2) why the city doesn't go back to its old city hall (second picture bellow, which initially was supposed to be demolished, why? I have no idea). Just wondering if any other cities have decided to cast away beautiful classic buildings in favour of hideous post modern - in Toronto's case alien space ship lookalike - buildings. As well as what others opinions are on this practice of replacing classics with bunkers... Penn Station cough cough.


you sir have no taste!:bash:
toronto city hall is a master piece of modernism. granted it could do with a face lift but even without one it is iconic. as a matter of fact i actually remember the first time i saw a photo of it while in elementary school. i had never heard of toronto but thought that the city hall was the coolest building i had ever seen.


----------



## Grey Towers (Oct 22, 2002)

dark_shadow1 said:


> Tel Aviv's city hall can win this contest without any problem:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think we have a winner...er, loser. Blecch.


----------



## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

That one is the 'fugliest' one posted thus far. :yes:


----------



## Andre_idol (Aug 6, 2008)

Tel Aviv wins! :shocked: Really looking forward to see if something beats it :nuts:


----------



## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

http://fansinaflashbulb.files.wordp...tified_photographer_2006_1_79.jpg?w=358&h=287

OK, I cheated. This is Hiroshima's City Hall roughly October 14-November 26, 1945. It looked better before the nuclear bomb went off.


----------



## _00_deathscar (Mar 16, 2005)

We've got a pretty ugly city hall.










Sometimes, it's all done up in colours, which only serves to make it look worse.


----------



## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

I don't thinkl all that modernist town halls are that ugly... Tel Aviv needs some renovation, but to call it ugly? 
_"It's a child of its time"._


----------



## x37 (Nov 18, 2007)

source

Another ugly candidate.
Stuttgart in Germany.


----------



## Iluminat (Jan 16, 2008)

^^Whats ugly about it?


----------



## MDguy (Dec 16, 2006)

While i wouldn't call Toronto's city hall attractive or good looking, it isn't the worst.


----------



## lima~limon (Nov 6, 2007)

Tel aviv wins.


----------



## stefano1895 (Dec 26, 2009)

actually i like the torontos new one


----------



## [{x}] (Jul 23, 2009)

Definitely not, in my opinion.

I quite like the design. I remember being in Toronto with a few buddies, drunk...it was a summer night, around midnight, and we were close to City Hall.

I don't know why or how, but I looked up at it, and I suddenly felt inspired. It was an amazing, uplifting feeling, like a sudden, explosive hope mixed with happiness. I never felt it before, and I knew it definitely wasn't from the booze...I can't really explain it, there's no words.

But, I love the building and whenever I see it, it reminds me of that night.

I seriously don't like the classic-style City Halls. The architecture is beautiful but I don't think such old-looking buildings should be used as city halls; needs something more modern to suit that functionality.

Not trying to offend anyone, but Oslo's is particularly ugly hno: . Tel Aviv is the clear winner!


----------



## Looking/Up (Feb 28, 2008)

I have a love-hate relationship with Toronto's city hall, which I think is overall a good thing. Architecture that stirs strong emotions is a positive and serves a value in society. I think the much larger problem with Toronto's city hall is Nathan Philip's square which, as has already been noted, is currently in the middle of a multimillionaire renovation and rejuvenation.


----------



## jayks1 (May 31, 2010)

arzaranh said:


> you sir have no taste!:bash:
> toronto city hall is a master piece of modernism. granted it could do with a face lift but even without one it is iconic. as a matter of fact i actually remember the first time i saw a photo of it while in elementary school. i had never heard of toronto but thought that the city hall was the coolest building i had ever seen.


I'm a little surprised by how many people think the building is attractive never mind a "master piece". I'm not sure if this is some sort of forced appreciation or not, though I'll tell you that future generations will not appreciate this now not-so-modern (master?) piece.

Arzaranh, possibly you are old/a baby boomer, and for this reason still call something built in the 1960s modernism - I believe the type of architecture used on Toronto city hall is now referred to as 'brutalism'... then again I'm no architect or art history major so I couldn't say.

In my mind a city hall is a token which should represent the history of a city and in a sense symbolize a city's identity. I can definitely see how it is hit and miss when creating a modern building when it comes to putting up something that will stay attractive for years to come, though I believe that Toronto City Hall and most buildings from that time period will not 'stand the test of time'. Whereas a building like Toronto's Old City Hall is a classic and I believe always will remain attractive. Though like Arzaranh said it is possible that I just have no taste... or just a taste for what is seasoned.


----------



## jayks1 (May 31, 2010)

Just want to add that the Oslo city hall building is pretty nice.


----------



## Ramses (Jun 17, 2005)

jayks1 said:


>


Yup, very ugly :weird:


----------



## Ashok (Jul 17, 2004)

Yup, I agree. Toronto's City hall is a masterpiece but I think it is time for a face lift.


----------



## Aashiq (Mar 17, 2010)

Toronto's city hall is too sexy. Oslo and Tel aviv city halls are pretty shit though


----------



## JJG (Aug 4, 2010)

Fort Worth



















What are you guys complaining about? At least yours has shape.


----------



## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

Apparently, people are calling any City Hall built after World War 2 "ugly". Brutalist and modernist styles are momentarily out of favor, but 2/3 decades from now their buildings will stop being discriminated just because they are original and broke free from previous trends in each area.


----------



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Fort Worth and Boston seem to be from the same era.


----------



## helorider14 (Sep 16, 2010)

^^that is one ugly building!


----------



## SO143 (Feb 11, 2011)

This one is ugly as hell :lol:



hkskyline said:


> Fort Worth and Boston seem to be from the same era.


----------



## Major Deegan (Sep 24, 2005)

Suburbanist said:


> 2/3 decades from now their buildings will stop being discriminated just because they are original and broke free from previous trends in each area.


+1


----------



## Vormek (Oct 10, 2008)

Stockholm has a pretty freakin' ugly city hall as well. Just a dumb looking tower with no details whatsoever. Very dull.


----------



## Botswana (Aug 29, 2009)

Suburbanist said:


> Apparently, people are calling any City Hall built after World War 2 "ugly". Brutalist and modernist styles are momentarily out of favor, but 2/3 decades from now their buildings will stop being discriminated just because they are original and broke free from previous trends in each area.


Brutalism will never be considered art. It is plain shit, and will always be so. hno: Half of these ugly city halls should be torn down.

And Fort Worth's... ugh. What an abomination.


----------



## Quall (Feb 15, 2006)

Oslo


Oslo City Hall (Oslo rådhus) by Hazboy, on Flickr


----------



## dexter26 (Feb 24, 2008)

double post


----------



## dexter26 (Feb 24, 2008)

^^ Oslo's city hall is a building that I can admit (or agree) looks a bit ugly from a distance, but once you get to know the building a bit more, and also check out al the art and details on it, I don't agree it's ugly still after that.

In other words, i can understand that some will dislike it after a very quick and superficial look, but in reality it's not very bad.

PS. I don't agree that Stockholm's city hall belongs here either. It might be a slightly "clean" building in some ways, but I don't dislike it much even though... It does have a certain beauty IMO.


----------



## GSAA (Nov 2, 2009)

Ålesund, Norway (large image): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Alesund_-_Radhuset_-_Town_Hall.jpg

Really ruins the beautiful town centre...

It's being redeveloped now, here's a render: http://gfx.nrk.no/z4B2jauzGVW3oqI08pz_ng1C0yPVbSq0QF-lH39ZMi8w.jpg


----------



## Dunzdeck (Apr 23, 2010)

Oh my, only recently did I discover Alesund's art nouveau heritage and now I see this... what an atrocity


----------



## wrabbit (May 14, 2005)

I love Toronto's city hall (Oslo's too).


----------



## OakRidge (Mar 9, 2007)

Botswana said:


> Brutalism will never be considered art. It is plain shit, and will always be so. hno: Half of these ugly city halls should be torn down.
> 
> And Fort Worth's... ugh. What an abomination.


Got that right!!!!


----------



## Quall (Feb 15, 2006)

dexter26 said:


> ^^ Oslo's city hall is a building that I can admit (or agree) looks a bit ugly from a distance, but once you get to know the building a bit more, and also check out al the art and details on it, I don't agree it's ugly still after that.
> 
> In other words, i can understand that some will dislike it after a very quick and superficial look, but in reality it's not very bad.


I find it resembles a hospital. Note the red brick and windows:


----------



## Marsupilami (May 8, 2005)

Stockholm building is awesome. the same with Oslo.


----------



## dexter26 (Feb 24, 2008)

Quall said:


> I find it resembles a hospital. Note the red brick and windows:


Maybe.
But before you make your final judgement, check out a bit more of the details of the building.


----------



## Galro (Aug 9, 2010)

^^ See also my post at the previous page. And to make it clear: The red boxes on the right side (which are awful imho) are not part of the city hall, although they where built to fit in with it (and failed).

Oslo Rådhus by TLU66, on Flickr


----------



## Quall (Feb 15, 2006)

dexter26 said:


> Maybe.
> But before you make your final judgement, check out a bit more of the details of the building.


I do appreciate the architecture and the details, but I simply don't find this building attractive. It doesn't seem to fit in an otherwise beautiful Oslo.


----------



## Galro (Aug 9, 2010)

Quall said:


> I do appreciate the architecture and the details, but I simply don't find this building attractive. It doesn't seem to fit in an otherwise beautiful Oslo.


^^ And you are free to mean that, however it's worth pointing out the city hall have been voted the best building in Oslo by the Oslo residents themself. So obviously someone do like it. It's hard to please everybody and buildings who set out to do it usually ends up as bland boxes.


----------



## Quall (Feb 15, 2006)

I didn't realize it had been posted previously in this thread.

I admit it does look better from the front.


----------



## Izzy Hungwell (Dec 26, 2004)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Mississauga

Mrs. Sauga's is pretty bad. It looks like a prison with a watchtower.


----------



## the_sage (Nov 27, 2009)

Newcastle in England also has a pretty decent slab of concrete as its city hall which is called the 'Civic Centre'


----------



## Squiggles (Aug 21, 2007)

I think the design of Toronto's city hall is very nice and innovative, and the public space provided by Nathan Phillips Square adds to it. HOWEVER, I'd like to see what it looks like with windows on the back. I know that's either impossible or disgustingly expensive to actually do, but I think it would astronomically improve the structure when viewed from anywhere other than the front.


----------



## minneapolis-uptown (Jun 22, 2009)

the Hennepin county government center in Minneapolis is pretty much 2 huge concrete slabs:









luckily that is just a government center and our city hall across the street is much better:


----------



## Major Deegan (Sep 24, 2005)

Interesting, Minnie's city hall looks like a copy of Toronto's old city hall. same architect?


----------



## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

Even though southern Ontario isn't considered the 'Midwest' because it's Canada, it really does seem to have a lot in common with this US region. It also goes a long way in explaining why Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, etc. feel so much like home despite being in another country.


----------



## whitefordj (Feb 18, 2006)

It’s not ugly in any way. It might be a bit outdated but that nothing that a good re-clad wouldn’t fix. I think it has potential to look very modern and beautiful if it had the right glass. The Bow in Calgary is dam near the same shape. It is one of the best looking skyscrapers in the world. The right improvements to this city hall could make your thread seem awfully redundant.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

I think the thread was redundant at the beginning, personally. I don't want to see it modernised; it is a stellar product of the '50's and should be protected as such. Look at all the beautiful Georgian buildings that got butchered by Victorians hell-bent on_ "modernising"_ them. I don't want everything to look like it was just built in 2011. The Bow must have been heavily influenced by Toronto's City Hall.


----------



## whitefordj (Feb 18, 2006)

Your right, it’s a dam good building. The tread was redundant before it was started. It’s foolish really, and it is just an attempt at putting down a Canadian, institution, nothing more.


----------



## MDguy (Dec 16, 2006)

Even if Toronto's City hall is unattractive, i fully oppose any kind of modernization or re-clad of the building. I fully appreciate the structure even if i don't find it beautiful.


----------



## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

Brutalist buildings are momentary out-of-fashion, but they will have a comeback. I dislike neoclassical and Chicago-style buildings a lot and would easily torn them down to build some brutalist gems in their place.

What I like about brutalism is that it impresses, shock and awe whomever comes across one of its good and representative structures. It leaves no room for competition for attention, and it obliterates whatever frill-full, Romanesque or overly adorned buildings in the vicinity. As so, they achieve architecture success and becomes object of jealously of other styles that can mix with it because they are less impressive.

(On a sidenote: I also like its opposed style, minimalism. Both are architectural styles that take off the human touch of buildings, and make them stand on their own).


----------



## Mustaa (Sep 5, 2009)

This is the City Hall of Curitiba, capital city of the state of Paraná, southern Brazil. It's kinda ugly, and these paintings are weird. hno:








C M Rech








Luiz Bocian

And this is the old City Hall (called _Paço da Liberdade_, or Liberty Palace) built in 1916 and turned into a museum in 1969. Today it's a cultural center in the heart of downtown.








This photo is mine.


----------



## TampaMike (Sep 11, 2005)

I always find Clearwater, FL's City Hall pretty tasteless


Clearwater City Hall by Tampa Bay Informer, on Flickr


----------



## desertpunk (Oct 12, 2009)

TampaMike said:


> I always find Clearwater, FL's City Hall pretty tasteless
> 
> 
> Clearwater City Hall by Tampa Bay Informer, on Flickr


It looks like a knockoff of the Hawaiian State Capitol!


----------



## JJG (Aug 4, 2010)

Botswana said:


> Brutalism will never be considered art. It is plain shit, and will always be so. hno: Half of these ugly city halls should be torn down.
> 
> And Fort Worth's... ugh. What an abomination.


Thing is, there have been efforts to move it to this place:




















... the old Post Office.... THAT should be our City Hall.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

^^ Handsome building.


----------



## sweet-d (Jul 20, 2010)

City Hall in downtown Oklahoma City by caseycornett, on Flickr

Oklahoma City's City Hall I have no idea how this survived urban renewal.


----------



## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

*City hall of Liège in Belgium.*










http://homme-et-ville.net/omegear/Galerie/albums/Liege60/Cite_admin.JPG









http://www.liegecity.be/v10/images/articles/article_tetris.jpg


----------



## 1+2=3 (Sep 11, 2002)

isaidso said:


> Who could ever forget Resident Evil, Apocalypse? Toronto City Hall featured at the 46 second mark, the money shots from 1:56 onwards! :rock:epper::gunz:


So now the city hall of Toronto has been blown up? :?


I really do not like the city hall of Amsterdam.

From this side it looks okay:











But from this side: hno:









(by: screenpunk


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

When they were filming Resident Evil I walked by one night by accident, and saw some of their pyrotechnics in action. I cursed myself for not having my camera with me!


----------

