When it comes to China’s ugliest buildings
There’s some real competition
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
This episode is sponsored by PC-Doctor Toolbox.
Protect your PC from software crashes,
hardware failures, and the kind of glitches that make your life miserable.
So, China builds more skyscrapers than the rest of the world combined.
And sometimes, there are unusual choices. As you can see from the buildings behind me.
This skyline is a composite image,
but each building is real and roughly to scale. Yes, even the liquor bottle,
which is a real seven story building in Sichuan Province.
I don’t know who designed this building, but I know what he was drinking.
Anyway, today, I have some good news for lovers of China’s...unique
architecture. It’s time for the 12th annual Ugliest Building in China Survey!
That’s right, every year, the Chinese architecture website Archcy.com holds
a competition for the ugliest building in China.
Now you might be thinking, how many ugly buildings can there possibly be in China?
Well, this year has almost 90 contenders. And this is the 12th competition.
In fact, ugly buildings are such a thing,
that back in 2014, Chinese leader Xi Jinping specifically “issued a directive
calling for an end to ‘oversized, xenocentric, [and] weird’ structures.”
Earlier this year, China supposedly banned weird and ugly buildings.
The National Development and Reform Commission said skyscrapers aren’t allowed to be taller
than 500 meters. China already has five skyscrapers taller than 500 meters.
Six, if you include Taiwan as part of China.
The commission also said “‘The construction of ugly architecture must be strictly banned.’” And
that “Chinese buildings must be ‘suitable, economic, green and pleasing to the eye.’”
What does the Chinese Communist Party consider suitable or pleasing? Well, they didn’t actually
give any specific guidelines. So like all who are subject to censorship in China,
it’s up to the architect to be terrified of accidentally crossing the Party line.
This year’s ugliest building competition has already gotten more than 30,000 votes.
As of when we recorded this episode, leading the pack is a five-arched gate
at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province.
That seems...not that ugly. Like, it’s average ugly, but not weird ugly.
Number two is much stranger. A glass bridge in Sichuan held up by
giant statues in traditional dress.
Now personally, I feel they get even stranger than this.
This museum has been compared to bowls of ramen.
These skyscrapers are joined by this weird glass roof.
These buildings look like they’re melting.
This one speaks for itself. Well, if it actually spoke it would be terrifying.
This one is a cross between a church and violin.
Maybe it’s where Chinese parents go to pray their children will someday play at Carnegie Hall.
And I’m not really sure what they were going for on this one.
Though it reminds me of my favorite episode of Stargate.
As I said, there’s almost 90 buildings in the contest this year.
Check them out, I’ve put a link below.
Voting will continue until December. Then a panel of judges, made of architects, critics,
and academics will vote. And at the end of the year, they’ll select 2021’s ugliest buildings.
And considering how much Xi Jinping hates ugly buildings,
I would not want to be the winning architect.
Especially now that there’s talk of “a
credit system that could blacklist designers who do not comply with planning regulations.”
And you know who else you don’t want to be? The guy whose computer crashes when
you’re about to give a career-making presentation.
And that’s why this episode is sponsored by PC-Doctor Toolbox.
Because sometimes, your computer feels like an ugly building inside—what with software bugs,
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I’m Chris Chappell. Thanks for watching China Uncensored.