In this graduate topics elective, students researched the concept of ugliness and how our perceptions of aesthetics relate to the world of architecture. Students began by researching key terms and movements associated with ugliness, ranging from adjectives like "boring" and "kitschy" to art styles like post-modernism and googie. With this research as a basis, each student selected a social-housing project that has been or could be identified as ugly. In Design I, students then drew an elevation of the project as-is, with a focus on "capturing its ugliness" through representation. In Design II, students were tasked with either rectifying or exaggerating the building's ugliness as an exploration of how ugliness can be ameliorated or exacerbated through design. Finally, students were asked to consider creating a 3D object of their elevation.
“The Młotek” or “The Hammer” was designed in 1964 by Jan Boguslawski and Bohdan Gniewewski. The 19-story building was completed in 1976 as one of the first high-rise buildings in Warsaw. While the building was originally designed to house a high-end hotel, it was eventually repurposed into a residential building. Its concrete structure and sweeping windows represent Poland’s attempts at postwar modernism, but with its narrow stalk and cantilevered peak, the building quickly became better known for its resemblance to a hammer. The building has long been considered ugly, and its perception has only declined as the building has experienced deteriorated.
In Design I, I aimed to depict the The Hammer in all of its so-called ugliness by capturing irregular window treatments, air conditioning units, and water stains.
With Design II, rather than attempt to mitigate The Hammer’s appearance, I chose to exaggerate it. By lengthening the base of the building and both re-coloring and increasing the scale of its top, the building further takes on the image of its nickname. Finally, users can create their own melodramatic hammer by cutting along the gray lines and folding along the red lines.
