CHARLESGATE Blog

The World's Ugliest Building.....aka Boston City Hall

Written by Michael DiMella | Nov 14, 2008 5:00:00 AM

Judge for yourself......


From the Boston Globe:

For decades, Boston's City Hall has been the butt of jokes and the object of scorn. Although some architects have praised its Brutalist design, local detractors have derided it as the Incredible Hulk and said it resembles a jail and "the crate that Faneuil Hall came in.''

Now City Hall, which opened in 1967, is getting some international attention: It tops the list of the "World's Top 10 Ugliest Buildings' and Monuments'' compiled by the website VirtualTourist.com, which provides tourism and travel information. Editors and readers of the site point out the building's "dreary facade" and its "incongruity with the city's more genteel architecture. Luckily, it's very close to more aesthetically pleasing attractions.''

Me?  I'm with Menino....

Such descriptions would not faze Mayor Thomas Menino, who has long disliked the present City Hall and has proposed to tear it down and build an "architecturally magnificent" one on the South Boston waterfront.

Please....pretty please....

And if you've never been inside...do yourself a favor and take a walk through.  Every time I have to go inside (only if forced to!), I feel terribly sorry for the people who have to work there every day....Repeat after me: "Free the City Workers!"