The J. Edgar Hoover Building, the crumbling and soon-to-be replaced headquarters to the FBI, has been unceremoniously named the ‘ugliest building in America.’
The 2.4million square foot concrete monstrosity in the nation’s capital of Washington DC received the distinction from Buildworld, a British-based building supplies outlet.
The Hoover Building, dedicated in 1975 and named for the first-ever FBI director, was described as having ‘a certain Minecraft-y charm about the blocky brutalist monolith’ but now only ‘evokes the worst of 20th-century politics and the 21st-century surveillance state.’
Along with topping the ugly list in America, the building also finished second in Buildworld’s rankings of ugliest buildings in the world, ‘losing’ out to the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh.
The J. Edgar Hoover Building, headquarters to the FBI, has been unceremoniously named the ‘ugliest building in America’
Second on the list came the city hall building in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1962, Buildworld describes it as ‘ striking and original’ when it opened, ‘but doomed to date badly, especially as it is as gloomy inside as out’
Buildworld’s rankings were determined by a sentiment analysis tool called HuggingFace that analyzed tweets to gauge people’s reactions to various buildings.
The company found that over 37 percent of tweets about the Hoover Building’s design were deemed negative.
But the FBI hopefully won’t have to put up with its hideous home for much longer as it is determining where to build its new headquarters, after spending years trying to nail down a site.
Second on the list is the City Hall building in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1962, Buildworld describes it as ‘striking and original’ when it opened, ‘but doomed to date badly, especially as it is as gloomy inside as out.’
The Watergate Complex in Washington was the second building in the nation’s capital to make the top five
Denver International Airport was ranked the fifth-ugliest building in America
Rounding out the top five are the Verizon Building in New York, the Watergate Complex in Washington and the Denver Airport.
Trump Tower in Las Vegas finished sixth in the rankings and 10th overall worldwide.
‘Radiating a curiously old-fashioned idea of glamour and built in a style most succinctly described as Trumpitecture, the condo tower’s final divisive motif is the 20-foot high TRUMP in glowing serif font at its tip,’ Buildword wrote derisively.
The beige concrete Verizon Building in Manhattan which has earned its place as one of America’s ugliest buildings
‘Radiating a curiously old-fashioned idea of glamour and built in a style most succinctly described as Trumpitecture, the condo tower’s final divisive motif is the 20-foot high TRUMP in glowing serif font at its tip,’ Buildword wrote derisively of Las Vegas’ Trump Tower
US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, home of the Minnesota Vikings, was named the world’s ugliest stadium
Following it up was US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, where residents told CBS News they strongly disagreed with the home of the NFL’s Vikings being named world’s ugliest stadium.
‘Compared to the Metrodome, it’s fantastic,’ Reggie Brown said, comparing it to the Vikings’ old home. ‘I love this stadium. It’s new, it’s exciting. I think the people, they love it. I speak for myself, I love it. I can’t speak for all, but it’s a beautiful stadium.’
‘The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority and ASM Global are proud of U.S. Bank Stadium’s iconic design and the incredible sports and entertainment environment that this state-of-the-art facility provides for our community and our guests,’ a spokesperson for the stadium said in a statement.
Finishing off the top 10 in America were the Thompson Building in Chicago, San Antonio’s Alamodome and the capitol building in Tallahasee, Florida.
A view of the Florida State Capitol building on November 10, 2018 in Tallahassee, Florida
The James R. Thompson Center in Chicago, Illinois which earned a spot in the top 10
A view of the the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, which made Buildworld’s list of the top ten ugliest buildings in America