The Ugliest Buildings in The World

The World’s Ugliest Buildings may be iconic centres but are aesthetically hideous.

Ever looked at a building and wondered, “what was that architect THINKING?”

While many of us travel the world to see some of the most beautiful examples of architectural excellence throughout the ages, sometimes it’s the not-so-pretty buildings that can be really interesting to look at too.

We took a look at some buildings around the globe that have become tourist destinations and gained plenty of international attention – for all the wrong reasons!

1. New York – Times Tower (The New York Times Building)

The Times Tower, which is located on 8th Avenue between 40th and 41st streets in Midtown, Manhattan, is the headquarters for one of the city’s most comprehensive and internationally popular daily newspapers. However, the building’s glass façade is much less stellar, littered with steel columns and a horizontal bar blocking out sunlight along with an external ladder and is a pale grey. Its external appearance acts as a visual metaphor for how the writers of the paper would feel if The New York Times ever ceased production. Let’s hope that will never be the case!

2. Paris – The Pompidou Centre

This is not to say that Paris is not the most architecturally beautiful city in the world – because it surely remains so. However, in amongst all the beautiful Gothic and Renaissance style buildings, one eyesore spoils the perfect fairytale existence of the city. The Pompidou Centre opened in 1977 in the 4th arrondissement. While it houses one of the most expansive and best museums for modern art in Europe, La Musée National d’Art Moderne, its high-tech architectural style is littered with exposed pipes, elevators and steel frames. It remains difficult to understand what the architect’s vision was. I guess it’s postmodern and it challenges Western society’s definition of art – but it’s undeniably ugly on the outside, even though it is beautiful on the inside!

3. Los Angeles – The Beverly Center

The Beverly Centre is a gigantic eyesore on the outside, located on the west side of Los Angeles near the intersection of La Cienega and Beverly. It has been described as looking like a giant household appliance, with no locally focused character and generally windowless on its main exterior facing the street. Sure, the building is an excellent shopping experience on the inside, including a Bloomingdales stole, but externally it has a distinctly industrial feel detracting from the rare beauty of the surrounding boutique neighbourhood.

4. London – The Tower Hotel

The Tower Hotel is located near Tower Bridge along the Thames and was voted amongst the top 5 ugliest buildings in London by a BBC survey. The Tower Hotel comprises modern, rendered brick, and is grey – lacking in character unlike many of the stunning older buildings that surround it. Ironically though, the Tower Hotel’s guests enjoy one of the best views in London, with a brilliant panoramic frontage along the Thames. The Tower Hotel is literally also a stone’s throw from many of the city’s major tourist attractions.

So, while these buildings mightn’t be the prettiest of the lot, they’re still popular for travelers and those looking for offices for lease. North Sydney, Milan, and Barcelona all also have some eyesores, so if you’re looking to do a round-the-world tour of ugly buildings (as well as see the beautiful ones while you’re there!) there are plenty of potential destinations.

Love,


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Something for the Kitchen, Something for the Camera Cabinet

Some stuff I've got this week.
1. Morphy Richards Oven Toaster Grill
Our trusty Rico OTG stopped functioning properly a couple of weeks ago, & we finally got a new one! I find it pretty fancy, & we inaugurated it last night with Shepherd's Pie, a favorite at home.

2. Olympus Pen EE-2

I met Brian Martins of Foto Martin who gave me this lovely camera (it used to belong to his in-laws). It's a half frame camera (like my Golden Half) except this is the real deal, with a glass lens & automatic exposure. It was produced between 1968 to 1977. There's a lot of dust in the lens so it will have to take a trip to the camera repair shop for some TLC, but otherwise it seems good. It doesn't need batteries, it works on the selenium meter (around the lens!) but those sometimes die over time so I'm a bit worried about this one. But oh well, let's get it cleaned up & see!

sidenote: I have so many analog cameras I've yet to try! *sigh* I really need to step my game up.

Love,


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Around Town with Unaiza

All photos by Unaiza Merchant.

So last week I met Unaiza to show her the photo lab I use to get my film processed (best in the city!) & then we went to Mahim to see the newly painted wall at Tulsi Pipe Road. The wall where the paintings are done has a very narrow footpath, so we stood like daredevils on the extremely narrow dividers at the middle of the road for wider photos, traffic speeding by on both sides (we're trained professionals untrained amateurs, don't try it yourself!) I didn't get any good photos with my dslr (hoping the LC-A / Wide & Slim slim shots will be better). I did get a nice portrait of Unaiza on the Polaroid though, will put up a proper scan soon. Later we had sandwiches & smoothies at Love & Latte & talked about how she doesn't like mangoes or sprinkles & I don't know to swim, skate or bicycle. And even later Unaiza stumbled on a small treasure trove of expired film. It was a good day.

Love,


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A Camera Day

Photo of me (with my beloved Canon EOS 550D) by Unaiza Merchant.

Sometimes, outings of the simplest purposes can turn out to be so much fun. Last monday was one of those days. More on that in tomorrow's post. :)

Love,


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BodyMindLife Yoga Workshop with Samanta Duggal at Temperance

It all started with someone retweeting a tweet by Temperance on twitter. And then I had signed up for their BodyMindLife Yoga workshop by Samanta Duggal. I have never actively practiced a sport, & physical activity has reduced a lot since school. (I still often practice the sport that is commuting in Mumbai!) So just because I'm slim doesn't mean I'm fit, no sireee. Also I'm a very restless person, so I've always wanted to practice yoga. And you'd think India being the land of yoga & all that, it's very easy to do so, but that's not true; I've always been searching for the right place & the right teacher. Temperance is a new creative hub in the heart of Bandra, they have just started up but already have classes in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), Dance, Zumba, & Yoga.

The workshop was yesterday, it was Temperance's first. Temperance is a beautiful complex just behind Rizvi college of Hotel Management. The studio where the workshop was held was on the second floor, it was exactly how I'd ever imagined an ideal yoga workshop to be. French windows on two sides to let a lot of natural light in, mirrors on the other two walls. There was a lot of new foliage planted too, it was very beautiful.

On the workshop itself, it was great. I did struggle with a lot of the asanas, I couldn't touch my toes or anything. And after a bad experience in Kolkata a few years go, I'm scared of pushy teachers/coaches, but Samanta & the girl assisting (I forgot her name ☹) were helpful without being too pushy, they totally allowed me to sit one asana out when I didn't feel up for it.

{Samanta Duggal}

The workshop was followed by a healthy vegetarian lunch. I expected simple Indian food, but what we got was practically healthy gourmet. 

The brownie for dessert was my favorite, it was made with flax seed & sweetened with fruits like Banana & Raspberry, no sugar or maida (all purpose flour). It was more like a wet granola bar, or drier muesli than Brownie but delicious nonetheless. They have a deli there opening in maybe 10 days. They are going to be having a sufi whirling workshop next month, & I'm still deciding about whether to go or not, but if it sounds interesting to you, you definitely should go. And you can know about their latest happenings by liking them on facebook.

Love,


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Looking Up in Goa

From my trip to Goa in April. I thought these went rather well together. The rooster on the roof of that traditional Goan home may remind you of a weather vane, but it's not. It's made of mud just like the other roof tiles.

Other than a little bit of cropping, these photos are completely unedited. And I'm curious about why the sky looks completely white in the photos. Granted they were both taken on different days in the harsh afternoon sun, still. I was shooting on manual, so were my settings at fault? Photographers, I would appreciate your thoughts. But I do love how the white blends with the blog layout so seamlessly.

Love,

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Men in Black III [3D], 2012 {Movie Review}

I can't say I've loved the earlier Men In Black films, but with the odd pairing of Will Smith & Tommy Lee Jones, the good special effects, & the always impressive supporting cast & the sci-fi comedy, I have certainly enjoyed the first two films.

The weird thing for MIIIB is that it's released twelve whole years after it's predecessor, while retaining the two main stars. I did however really miss Rip Torn as Zed, it didn't completely feel like a Men In Black film without him. He's replaced by Emma Thompson, which vaguely reminds me of Judi Dench as M in the 007 films. Perhaps it's a desperate move to add a strong female presence to the film? While I normally like Emma Thompson, I don't think she fit the role too well. 

Nicole Scherzinger (of the Pussycat Dolls) has a bit part at the start of the film, & the length of her role (& depth of her character) might make Freida Pinto feel good about her own role in Slumdog Millionaire. Will Arnett has a small appearance too, quite like the funny/annoying characters he usually plays. As you may know from the previews, the plot does involve travelling back to the 60's some scenes are a bit of a visual feast. There's even a funny turn of events with Andy Warhol! Perhaps the most amazing is Josh Brolin, who plays the young Agent K of the sixties. He may be a forty something playing a 29 year old, but he's still pretty amazing. Not only are their facial features alike, but he captures the essence of Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K so well, & being young, he's actually a lot less cynical & grumpy & hence more likeable. What's most disappointing is the end, it's meant to by sappy but it actually has a ton of plot holes (that I can't reveal without giving spoilers).

The 3D is definitely nothing special at all, you can get the same effect watching this in 2D, & save some of your ticket money at that.

Overall not bad from what we've come to expect of MIB films, they definitely have no critical merit but fulfill the purpose of entertainment quite well.

Rating ★★★ ☆ ☆ (Three Stars)

Love,

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The Coffee Shop

These pictures are from the mini vacation at VITS hotel earlier this month. I love cafés everywhere for the wonderful ambiance (except for Café Coffee Day, that's like this McDonalds of cafés.) We've been going to VITS hotel for so many years now, I've always seen this cafe (it's simply called 'The Coffee Shop') from the outside, & it always looked very inviting, but we had never entered the place (we're both such lazy bums, ha!)

This time we were there I finally managed to wake mom up & drag her down & I so glad I did.
It's supposed to be a 24 hour café, but when we went (probably in time for brunch) there was nobody there. The waiters of course politely led us in, turned on all the light & even played some music. We had the place all to ourselves.
We loved the painted door, very artistic.

Truly very well decorated & large too. Notice the 'artist' newsprint chairs. This map theme was lovely & featured on all their crockery & cutlery (even the salt & pepper shakers)I forgot what this sandwich was called, but it was grilled perfectly had both cold cuts & veggies. Also the fries were just right (& that is rare! To me they're always over/under cooked). Very yummy.The cappuccino & latte.  Overall it was definitely one of the best cafés I've been to in a while. Great ambiance, friendly staff & good food.

Oh & there's something else worth showing you- mom & me put on coffee tattlys before going there!
Some instaxes from that day.
There's a post on my style blog with what I wore that day as well.

Love,


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