Beijing residents worried ominous new building will mess up neighborhood fengshui

Today in evil buildings

A recent addition to the Beijing skyline has residents feeling somewhat unsettled.

Photos of the new skyscraper, being built on the south side of Chaoyang Park were posted over the weekend by a popular Beijing Weibo account, which prefaced the images by saying that the rather ominous structure had raised protests from local residents, who found it “dark,” “ugly,” and “frightening.”

While some netizens applauded the building’s unique aesthetics, most agreed with residents’ assessment, comparing the structure to a sci-fi villain’s base, or perhaps a couple of oysters.

“Very nice. An appropriate metaphor for the times,” wrote one Weibo user.

“This building will ruin the surrounding fengshui,” noted another.

Of course, this is not the first Beijing building to generate controversy with its unconventional design. Earlier this decade, the People’s Daily HQ building was mocked during its construction for looking much like a giant golden penis torpedoing towards the sky.

While Chinese President Xi Jinping may have banned “weird” architecture, he appears to have a soft spot for cyberpunk.

[Images via 北京人不知道的北京事儿]