Annual China Ugliest Building Survey is Underway

By That's GBA, September 24, 2021

Cast your ballot now for the 12th edition of the annual Ugliest China Building Survey held by the Chinese architecture site archcy.com.

Almost 90 entries that span skyscrapers, museums, hotels, sports facilities and more are fair game for voters to weigh in on until December.

Netizens can select multiple reasons for their reasoning behind their choices, including ‘eclectic patchwork,’ ‘extremely inharmonious with the surrounding environment and conditions,’ ‘plagiarism,’ ‘blindly worshiping foreign and historic buildings,’ ‘extremely unreasonable building function,’ ‘deliberately symbolic,’ ‘weird and vulgar’ and ‘intentionally unfeasible.’

After polling closes, a panel of architects, critics and academics will judge the top 10 ugliest structures.

As of press time, the current ‘ugliest’ building that takes the number one spot is the South Gate of Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University. One commenter wrote:

“I pass by this school gate every day. I think this gate is very extravagant and wasteful. It is said that the construction cost is over RMB100 million. Not only the school gate, but the entire Zijingang West District is very problematic. The main road has a lot of traffic yet only has two-way lanes. The sidewalks crossing the road turn around, without considering the convenience of pedestrians. I hope that Zhejiang University can get rid of its exaggerated atmosphere and really do practical things for teachers and students. Aside from wasting money and raising the housing prices of the opposite community, I can’t think of anything significant the school has done.”

In second place is the Glass Bridge Tower of Jiuhuangshan Mountain in Sichuan. Netizens have described these larger-than-life statues wearing traditional costumes as ‘creepy.’

The second runner-up is the Violin Church in Foshan, Guangdong, which cost more than RMB2 million. The spot has become a bit of a touristy wanghong destination, which has taken away the attention from the surrounding historic buildings.