First held in 2011, China’s 10 Ugliest Structures is an initiative that draws attention to structures in China viewed as unsightly or lacking originality, picking only from structures that were completed over the past year. Its nominees come from a combination of online and offline surveys, while results are determined by a panel of architects from Chinese architecture firms and institutes.



Factors for determining a finalist in this ugly structure list include nonsensical appearance, copying the design of buildings in other countries and discordance with surroundings.

In its past editions, examples of buildings erected on the Chinese mainland that made the list include ‘Gate of the Orient,’ a building in Suzhou that looks like a pair of pants; the Hainan Airlines (HNA) headquarters in Haikou, a copycat of the famous Burj Al Arab in Dubai; and the Fangyuan Building in Shenyang, which resembles an ancient Chinese copper coin.

Last month, the 10th edition of the ugly building-judging event was held in Beijing, and the finalists come in all shapes and sizes. Behold, China’s top 10 ugliest structures of 2019:

1. Raffles City Chongqing

2. Shuisi Futang Building (Guizhou)

3. Ningxia International Convention Center

4. Ningxiang Chuangye Fuwu Building (Hunan)

5. Dunhuang Airport Terminal 3 (Gansu)

6. Nanchang Youth Palace (Jiangxi)

7. ‘Song of the Yangtze’ Residential Buildings (Anhui)

8. Zhang Daqian Museum (Sichuan)

9. Liyang Museum (Jiangsu)

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[All images via 三联生活周刊]