Boston City Hall tops ugliest-building list

When I saw the title of the article, I was sure the Cathedral in Liverpool had to be on the list. I attended mass there when I worked in Liverpool and it was like someone upended a giant paper cup full of cement and called it a church. The inside is much nicer, luckily.

Who cares if its ugly - it serves its purpose - the idea of tearing it down will we are already hugely in debt it whats ugly

1967? 1969!

It's not so much the building as the setting. The Plaza is lifeless like a barren planet surface!

Sure it might be ugly on the outside, but inside it's alot like a jail. In any case, Menino should not move City Hall to the waterfront so he can have a nice view. City Hall belongs where it is...in the center of the city, at the hub of public transportation.

Sure it might be ugly on the outside, but inside it's alot like a jail. In any case, Menino should not move City Hall to the waterfront so he can have a nice view. City Hall belongs where it is...in the center of the city, at the hub of public transportation.

God help me, but I love that building. I know I'm in the minority here, but it really is a thing of beauty.

City Hall is paid for. It is centrally located. It is ugly, so what? It can serve many more years as the centerpiece of our city government. In another 30 years, it will be in vogue, once again.

You're missing the word blind between the words some and architects in the first sentence.

Why do I, for some strange reason, feel proud of this???

This building looks almost exactly like the Federal Building in downtown Indianapolis.

Address is 575 N Pennsylvania St, Indianapolis in csase you wan to get a look at it on Microsoft maps.

I moved to Boston in 1983. The first time I saw the Government Center, my first reaction was "God that's an ugly building" and I've felt the same since. On the other hand, it does stand out for it's uniqueness. I guess this is one of the reasons why Boston is the best city to visit! All kinds of diversity! Gotta love it...

I have always loved the architectural statement of Boston city hall!

Dear Globe: You're welcome. Glad to have given you the story tip.

Ha! City Hall isn't even one of the 10 ugliest buildings in Boston, let alone the world, think: The Prudential, Internation Place, the Darth Vader Building, 111 Huntington, the BPL addition ... Alas I fear this ill-deserved award will just be grist for Menino's ego driven desire to yank the city's business out of its traditional heart and move it to the nouveau city's fringe. Many interesting, viable, user, voter and eco-sensitive improvements could be made to the existing landmark structure and wind-swept plaza that would transform it into a user and pedestrian friendly place, melded seamlessly to the special fabric of Boston.

If Boston City Hall tops the list then among municipal edifices the expressway-straddling city hall over I-195 in Fall River must be nudging it for a close second. This Stalinist hunk of stressed concrete is less than 50 years old and has become best known (other than for its esthetic awfulness) for raining down hunks of stone and concrete on unfortunate motorists passing below.

It's not even the ugliest building in Boston - the Prudential is.

And let's not forget, this monstrosity won an award in its day.

It looks like it's upside down! Flip it over and it makes more sense. Other things we don't like to see upside down... a turtle, our mortgages, state ethics, common sense, a cup of coffee.

how about it's not so much the building we should be talking about as it is the people inside of it. some of them are still stuck in 1969.

It hasn't been the same since the wicked which melted and the flying monkeys left .. . but it is still pretty scary.

consider the price of something new? Invest in the plaza -

I like it! And I LOVE the Plaza. There is often something happening there.
I have seen many concerts there, farmers market, scooper bowl, lots of activities. It could use a little more green, but it is still an oasis of space in the middle of the city.

there is a building in the Plaza of St. Michael in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. Now, THAT building is ugly!!! Far worse than our City Hall.....

I happen to like City Hall just the way it is (and where it is). If one does not like the plaza then one can always plant some grass or trees. But the building itself has too much architectural value to deride.

It is likely that the same people who rate the building as being ugly don't like anything by such great architects as I.M.Pei or Hugh Stubbins. But regardless of taste the best thing about Boston is its architectural diversity. Just as we value each modern skyscraper and each colonial era building and each Victorian home, We also value the architecture for the era that built Boston City Hall.

When I saw the title of the article the first thing that came to my mind was Boston City Hall. Being a global list I did not really expect it to be there. I got a a laught when I opened the article and saw that it was at the top of the list!

Where has this been for the past 30 years, why now is it the ugliest building, it has been since the day it was built.
I bet mumbles voted a million times for this, he wants to tear it down and build on the waterfront BEFORE he gets de-throned..what a moron!
Go ahead mumbles, spend mor eof our money, people are losign theri homes adn people are living on the streets BUT, take advantage of this you idiot!

#2, we can certainly tear it down and make money at the same time.. Certainly one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the city....it maybe buy Four city halls with the sale price to the right developer...I think it's actually the only fiscally prudent idea "mumbles" has had during his tenure

You know, we can fix these things...we don't need to throw it away. What a wasteful, irresponsible, 20th century approach. There are a million ideas about how to improve it not to destroy it. This all reminds me of those who said there was no way to fix Fenway Park (the seats are too small, the bathrooms are cramped and old, they'll never win a championship there).

The design style for this period was called , no kidding, "Brutalism". In building this, they had to clear away an entire neighborhood, the "West End" which, I'm told was a nice little melting pot with a lot of personality.

Kallmann McKinnell and Knowles designed the building. According to their website "Kallmann and McKinnell were influential professors of Architecture for over two decades at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design"

They also designed that dog of an addition to the Boston Public Library.

A couple of other Harvard Professors, Machado and Silvetti, did that mutt of a building near the Pike entrance at Harvard. Take a look at their website and see the two of these posers.

The prior dean was Jose Luis Sert. He did a disaster in Harvard at their Science Center, it is pitiful. Thankfully, only Harvard has to look at it.

Lesson learned is that Harvard Architecture is terrible, and it takes someone skilled at persuasion to convince someone that these awful buildings aren't mega-ugly.

It is appropriate for a government building...and I am still opposed to a new, prettier, taxpayer funded city hall!

beauty is in the eyes of the beholder!

I cannot believe that our upside-down chunk of concrete actually beat out the Pompidou Center in Paris (or that the PC was not on the list at all). This structure of pipes, steel and glass is by far and away the ugliest structure in the world!

Tear up the plaza and restore the original street pattern!
The slap a coat of paint on City Hall. How about dark green?

If my memory serves me right, through the years this building has recieved numerous best looking and most ugliest awards from differant whatever groups so to sum it all up: beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Trying to get around the INSIDE of the building and accomplish some task is the worst aspect of this atrocious building. I'd be happy to pay to tear down the Pei.

I think City Hall is just fine. City Hall plaza is not used enough. It would be nice to have something for families to be drawn too. It serves a purpose. In the event of an emergency people should flock to the plaza to wait for the helicopters to take us away from the danger of robots.

I was a kid when Boston City Hall was built and I seem to remember that a lot of people were excited about it. It was bold, different and spoke toward a renewed and modern Boston. People in these times think it's ugly because it hasn't been maintained properly over the years and taste in architecture is generally more conservative. Also, the barren wasteland in front of it doesn't help either. On another point, Mayon Menino's idea of tearing it down and building a new city hall on the waterfront and away from GOVERNMENT CENTER is one of the most stupid, asinine ideas I've ever heard from a politician. Furthermore, I wouldn't trust his taste in design either.

I like it! And I LOVE the Plaza. There is often something happening there.
I have seen many concerts there, farmers market, scooper bowl, lots of activities. It could use a little more green, but it is still an oasis of space in the middle of the city.

The plaza is indeed an ugly public space. But at least this building is served by adequate public transportation. The same cannot be said for the Seaport and the Silver "Line", i.e., bus.

Did we really have to have international attention to tell us that? We Bostonians knew it from the time the first slap of concrete was poured. The architect who designed this monster (and I don't care that he is famous) as well as the city council and planning board, that approved it - should all have their pants pulled down right there on the plaza and have 10 slaps with the famous wet noodle.
The building is disgusting. Both inside and out. Tear it down and build a new one on the same foot print.

Something the Dear Leader and Stalin might have collaborated on
nothing quite so charming as wet concrete on a rainy day.

Then again, maybe it was supposed to be the City Hall for Air Strip One

Only in MA would we have proposals on the same day for $7-8 tolls at the airport and an "architecturally magnificent" city hall on prime waterfront property that the city could sell for an incredible amount of money. Me-thinks Mr. Mayor ought to rethink his approach.

I agree with Bill. While the building has never been a favourite of mine, it's the acres of red brick expanse that really kill the area. Then again, the whole area is pretty horrific. It's as if every level of government (the Feds with the JFK building, state with the Saltonstall building, and municipal with City Hall) came together to just ruin the area. Not even mentioning Center Plaza that blocks out one of the most architecturally beautiful buildings in the city from view in almost any direction (the Suffolk County courthouse). It's too bad the city didn't have the vision to buy up the adjacent property to the old city hall and either join the existing buildings or tear them down and rebuild them to provide the additional office space needed. Now that's a city hall to be proud of. Instead, they sold it and it became a restaurant.

Yep, along with the Dept of Mental Health (I think, the one next to the new court house and extends to the corner of Causeway Street), are the ugliest buildings I have seen.

Oh, and a new city building in LA off of the Federal Court/Building plaza, is a horrible design too. I think it is their new Dept of Transportation building. Contemporary styling with all kinds of things sticking out. And LA wants money for a bailout? Should have built a nice, modest economical building.

Back to Boston City Hall. Aweful. Even when it was used for the Boston Police Dept Headquarter's in 'Blown Away.' I wish they blew it up in the movie like Independence Day.

Actually, MeMe, City Hall DOESN'T serve it's purpose. It's a depressing place to visit and even worse to work in. the HVAC system is in poor condition and there are very few spaces with views out. This leads to poor health and attendance rates by employees, which is a burdensome cost for the city. It's also amazingly energy inefficient. AS I recall the heating bill several years back was in the 7 digit range.
Such an important municipal building should be welcoming at least, ideally it would be inspiring. This building is instead, imposing, frightening, unwelcoming and nothing less than a monument to bad taste. The building should be imploded and all plan records burnt to insure no one ever considers building another.

In a 1976 poll of historians and architects, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects, Boston City Hall was voted the sixth greatest building in American history.

Embrace ugliness!! Embrace common sense!!! Embrace not wasting our tax dollars!!!!! Keep it where it is, as is!!!!!!

Boston City Hall can only be rivaled by North Korea's 'Hotel of Doom' -- the Ryunyong concrete Hotel that is the seven eyesore of the world. Lifeless on the outside, and Orwellian darkness on the inside. If we don't tear it down, then Bostonian are responsible for one architectural travesty for a public building. What's the point of saving money, if its citizens are tortured with depression every time they look at it?

The sooner that monstrosity is replaced, the better!

The worst mistake in a series of BRA mistakes from the late 50s to mid 60s. at least this City Hall is downtown on top of the Government Center T stop...moving it from one lifeless barren plaza to another lifeless, barren and windswept plaza at the Seaport would be an even bigger mistake..Before I go on a rant about Boston's potential and how it has been abused, everyone go to San Francisco and see how waterfront development ought to be done that is fun to be in..not lifeless Midwest developer buildings...Why they even connected it to downtown streetcars from other cities including MBTA cars in the origina red-orange colors.

BOSTON CITY HALL = UGLY, could have been the headline 40 years ago, it is still UGLY today. Some old and worn pieces of Boston are worth saving and restoring for example The Longfellow Bridge and Fenway Park, however not City Hall and it is so obvious to all. Move the offices into temporary quarters and buid something reflecting the history and vision of the City Of Boston.

City Hall looks great, very impressive and unique. Period.

To naysayers a building must have columns and/or sheets of glass or it makes them uncomfortable. What City Hall needs is a proper landscape setting. The Government Center is monotonous, overpowering bore. Instead of it, a surrounding park of many good sized trees, out of which City Hall would rise, would be perfect. On the other hand I have heard City Hall does not function well for it's users, that's a big problem you can't fix with trees.

Average people are "challenged" by unusual architecture, they do no study, presume what little they know is all there is to know, fear what they don't understand, and run with the crowd's opinion.

this is a great and distinctive building -- but it is in need of renovation --the plaza should be reshaped---wait 30 more years and people will begin to love and cherish it --Menino has got it wrong and we do not need a city hall in Southie --

Stalinist East Germany school of design revisted. Get rid of it, Mr. Mayah if you got the 'stones'
Moldy,drafty, taxpayer waste if money

Boston sucks. Not a notable bulding in the city. Not a remarkable resource, feature, or facility as compared to other cites. No one comes to Boston to see anything, unless they're an unfortunate area resident who can't find anything better without heading well out of state.

My onlyu surprise it that they could not take more than one spot on that list.

Hey! Who's besmirching the Prudential?! That's one of my favorite features on the Boston skyline. Ungainly, perhaps. Familiar and sentimental . . . yes. But ugly? That's a gentle term for City Hall. Tear. It. Down.

People adding the Pru along with City Hall are confusing boring with ugly. City Hall is magnificently ugly. And new tax payer money certainly shouldn't be used to build a new trendy City Hall. Instead they should cover that big flat roof with solar panels, tear up that horrible brick plaza to add a nice park around it and, and have the center piece be a fountain that's a miniature version of Ugly Hall. They could even have a little area dedicated to the pictures of the world's ugliest buildings with the final picture being an arrow that points in the sky towards City Hall.

When you add in the City government inside, the ugliness factor goes up even higher.

I have to agree about the inside of the building; it is a horrible space to be IN. I still like the outside.
the building would make a wonderful ruins if the roof and all the glass and doors were removed and nature took over.
When I was working for an architect in Cambridge, I spent a pre-Christmas week installing the christmas decorations for the City Hall. I found the main hall, where I spent most of my time, to have a physically and emotionally depressing effect on me that I didn't understand. Later I decided that it was because the combination of no windows and all the concrete mass and reinforcing rod used in the concrete blocked the energy one feels outdoors. A wood-framed building allows the energy of the earth to penetrate inside; it feels alive. City Hall felt like a tomb.

An ugly building for a bunch of ugly crooks ......... It should stand forever ..... and mabey a GIANT mural of mumbles to dress it up a bit ! sweet.......

Fun article, great comments! I agree with everyone who says "keep it!" It's centrally located and it's paid for. I also feel a perverse kind of affection for its ugliness. In a city of graceful architecture, it does stand out.

The Harvard Business School's new student housing on Soldier's Field Road in Allston certainly deserves to be in the running. It looks like something the soviets would have built in the former East Berlin.

What took them so long to come to this conclusion? It was an eyesore when it was built and still is!

Saddam and is sons' sould have taken up residence there!

Thanks Mayor White - you served the North End mafia well taking bribes inexchange for concrete that is an eye sore to the world.

I have seen Australian outhouses that looked better than this place. It always felt awkward getting a birth certificate there.

If you want to see its even more awful, unoccupied, unfinished, and decrepit cousin, just Google 'the monster kaliningrad' , you'll swoon from the hideousness of it all, and despair. Brutalist indeed.

BTW - romanplaywriter:
City Hall was completed before White was mayor, and he had no direct role in its design or construction. If you want to make claims about White's dubious connections to downtown development deals there's plenty to explore (see Long Wharf Marriott, One Dwey Sq., etc.) but City Hall ain't one of them.

For those who don't know the old Boston cabbie coin trick:
Take penny, look at the back, turn it upside down: voila! Boston City Hall.

The good news is we've got plenty of money for another bloated, crony-laden project for all the hacks in this city/state to sink their bloody teeth into. A nice shiny, sparkly new building from whence Mumbles can spew his incoherent, embarrasing version of the English language. Why am I feeling lately like the rest of the state and/or country are laughing at us, and that the joke is on us? Deval, Question 1, tolls, Wilkerson, the list continues ad nauseum. I love Boston like nowhere else, but I'm getting ill.

#29, john p:
Give (dis) credit where it is due. The "dog of an addition to the Boston Public Library" was designed by Phillip Johnson, not Kallmann McKinnell.
Mr. Johnson inflicted several bad buildings on Boston, and in response to local critics he designed International Place, a building he said "Bostonians will come to see as an unmistakable salute on their skyline." PJ was cynical, but he also had a devilish sense of humor: when viewed from certain angles the building's mass looks exactly like a person's hand flipping you the bird.

I don't think it would cost too much to tear the building down and build a new one., but why can't they just build a new one in the same place? Maybe they can build it in a pleasant colonial style, and add some trees to the plaza...

I've always hated this building, but what do I know? I'm not an architect.

I think the suggestion to move it is foolish, given its location and what it would cost, but I do wish they could find some money someplace and re-do that plaza. It's a disgrace. Blazing in the summer, freezing in the winter...

Plant some trees, put in a fountain, make a big ol' lawn for people to laze about on...

G. Lovely, those are some ugly-*ss buildings you just rattled off. Did you have to rub it in so deep?

I left N.E. years ago for the southwest U.S. to get away from the snow, but when I visit Boston from time to time, I so enjoy seeing this wonderful building and plaza. Reminds me of diversity and openness that I knew as the best of Boston. My spirit sours when I stand in that plaza and look at that building built when I was a young man. Most people don't remember how awful the area looked before being cleaned up in the 1960's.

Landscaping! There's nothing wrong with City Hall that a some trees, grass and shrubbery wouldn't fix. It's City Hall Plaza that's ugly -- unbelievably ugly.

Take up the bricks and lay down sod and strategically placed sidewalks. Add some shrubs and gardens. Plant large trees, especially near the austere walls of City Hall.

With a couple of years of growth, the ugliness will disappear, and as the trees get larger and fuller over time, City Hall and its Plaza will become nicer and nicer.

ugliest building with the ugliest mayor . .

Incredibly ugly building that is even worse once you go inside.

I think it's a spectacular building; it really is beautiful. Why must everything look the same to be accepted?

In fact it was deliberately modeled on a monastery by Le Corbusier in France. I don't know if I'm able to put a link in here, so I won't even bother. Google: Monastery of Sainte-Marie de La Tourette or Le Corbusier & Monastery. The pictures of the monastery will seem very familiar to Bostonians.

I've always loved the building. The plaza could use some landscaping, I agree!

I would put the cambridge district court house as the second ugliest building and the federal building as third, they have similar architecture and are equally sore on the eyes when you look at them. All of these buildings should be demolished.

It looks fine, not perfect! It is already paid for, however, so we should stick with it until it collapses.

Politicians love wasting money on things like that.

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Its a hideously ugly building that only an architect could love - architecture as practiced in the last 50 years values ideas over beauty. So much for commodity, firmness, and delight. (And architects wonder why no one hires them anymore?) And its even worse inside

Sell City hall to a developer, and build a new one in Dorchester. I'd bet that would end up giving money back to the city

Harvard Architects are copycats and lousy ones at that. The problem with the "brutalism" style is that it takes a master and some landscaping to soften it like say Carlo Scarpa to pull it off. Posers who wear bow ties and ride bikes to the Harvard Graduate School of Design would do less damage if they did knock-offs of other more regional styles.

Thank you for this article about a poorly researched list on a badly maintained travel website. As the Globe continues to reduce staff, I'm sure that we can expect more like this.