You may know that my old website was attacked and destroyed in September, 2024, and we have been working to rebuild it here on Substack since then. The monthly installment of the Eyesore of the Month was unfortunately interrupted . . . but we are back now. This feature started many years ago as a way to display the gross design blunders of architecture and urban design in our built environment — the everyday human habitat we call home. It grew out of the books I wrote about these subjects beginning with The Geography of Nowhere in 1993, and continuing through Home From Nowhere, and The City in Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition. — JHK

November 2024

Behold, the new Rose des Vents student apartments at the Technopôle Angus, Montreal, Canada! Zut alors ! ! ! Our neighbor to the north, laboring harshly under the regime of Justin Trudeau, has developed an extreme penchant for self-punishment. Hence, its student housing draws inspiration from the great 1954 movie by director Don Siegel, Riot in Cell Block 11.  Yes, Looks exactly like the municipal lockup in a small-to-medium city. The two top floors just scream “Exercise Yard” with all that chain-link fencing. The ground floor has even less character than the building above, signifying nothing. Since that’s where the building meets the street, it will serve as a people-repellant. (People like to know what they’re walking into.) Designed by the Montreal architecture firm ADHOC. Now, imagine it in January of a Montreal winter: windswept, with giant piles of filthy snow all around.

Shout-out to Ray Sawhill for the nomination.

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