The Top Five Ugliest U.S. State Capitols
I was recently reminded of how ugly our State Capitol building is, when I wondered if it was really the ugliest in the nation. I looked through Wikipedia's pages about each State's Capitol, and made a list of the ugliest:
5th place: Ohio Statehouse
This has the same problem as Oregon, but at least Oregon's is clean.
4th place: Oregon State Capitol
The main reason I don't like my state's Capitol is because the dome looks like some boring concrete pillar, or a dial on a stereo. I don't know why it must be so plain in such a unique state. We deserve better.
3rd place: New Mexico State Capitol
It's not that I don't like contemporary architecture, but care must me taken so that it doesn't look like a La Quinta Inn, like the New Mexico State Capitol does.
2nd place: Hawai’i State Capitol
The architecture of the Hawai’i State Capitol was supposed to mimic traditional Hawaiian architecture. I can't say for sure if they did that, but I can say that it reminds me very strongly of those truck weigh stations you see along highways. Not the best model for a center of government.
1st place: Alaska State Capitol
Ewwwwwwwww.... Designing Capitols that resemble La Quinta Inns or truck weigh stations may not be a good idea, but it is better than making a building that looks like a public elementary school, or a generic office building, or a public storage facility, or...you get the idea. Seriously, I don't know what Alaskans were thinking when they approved this piece of shit, especially considering the kind of cool stuff they could have done with an Alaskan building. Something relating to snow and ice would be nice.
8 comments:
would be nice if they showed the whole building
How cool it is that someone had the same random thought I had. I was just randomly wondering what the ugliest state capitol building was and here I found your post. Thanks. I think we agree. Alaska has the ugliest. Not very stately.
Have you ever seen the North Dakota state capitol? It's a crummy skyscraper
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time! :)
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You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view
The Oregon state capitol is actually pretty unique in that it's one of only a handful of capitols built in the 20th century and it uses Art Deco. It has very clean lines and a modern feel without being gaudy or dated. In my humble opinion, it may not be the most interesting or the most traditional, but it is a beautiful building.
Of course, I'm from Pennsylvania, and our capitol was built after they tore the old one down after like two years because it was too damn ugly. Our capitol is in the Beaux Arts style (think Paris Opera House) and is absolutely gorgeous. Pres. Teddy Roosevelt called it the most beautiful state capitol he'd ever seen (of course, he might have said the same thing about other capitols... but it's a feather in the cap nonetheless).
The original Oregon capitol was a typical capitol building with a copper dome that burned down in 1936. The current 1938 building bears a strong resemblance to the buildings designed by Albert Speer for Hitler's proposed remake of Berlin. Over the main door is a relief of a Nazi-esque eagle clutching the rising sun.
The Alaska capitol was a federal courthouse built before Alaska became a state in 1959. Downtown Juneau occupies a narrow piece of land between the water and the mountains, so it was easier to convert the courthouse than to tear down half the town to make space for a new building.
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