TOP-8 buildings in the world, causing negative associations

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

It would seem that architecture should be inspiring and evoke positive emotions and aesthetic satisfaction. But in their quest to stand out, some architects go beyond the general understanding, and their creations evoke disturbing thoughts, and sometimes even fear. However, it is not the design of this or that building that is to blame for this, but the human psyche and violent imagination, which cause negative associations.

What makes inanimate objects look "evil"

Some structures look like they were designed to intimidate those around them.

So why, after all, does our thinking paint eerie pictures, making inanimate objects "evil" and "scary" to the point of shivering? Scientists around the world are asking this question and looking for the reasons for this illogical fear. They try to determine why certain inanimate objects appear “evil,” “intimidating,” or “creepy,” making them feel anxious and uncomfortable. As it turned out, such a state is caused by a deep-rooted psychological trait of people, which is a relic of a more “wild” past of humanity.

In most cases, the "crawling" of frightening images from any noise or movement is just a defense mechanism to prepare us for a potential threat, for example, a tiger attack, spider bites, etc. A similar associative image appears when looking, only in this case a person sees a frightening face / image due to a visual illusion called pareidolia.

Interesting:Pareidolia or pareidolic illusion is a type of visual illusion that can occur both in people with certain mental disorders and in completely healthy individuals. This ability is expressed in the formation of illusory images, and not just in fantasies, but when looking at the details / elements of a real object, which are the basis for the association. As a rule, the imagination draws a funny or frighteningly evil face / image from life, computer games or movies.

1. Skyscraper AT & T Building in Nashville (Tennessee, USA)

Huge 33-story AT&T Building, built in 1994 in Nashville. immediately caused negative associations, and not among one or two paranoids, but among all residents and guests of the city. Journalists were quick to point out that this building bears a great resemblance to "unconditional evil" Sauron - the main antagonist of the Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien.

2. Business center DC Tower in Vienna (Austria)

Despite being Vienna's tallest building and state-of-the-art in all its technical and engineering characteristics, DC Tower is awe-inspiring. Looking at the outline of the 250-meter structure, many have an unpleasant chill and an unreasonable anxiety seizes. There are few daredevils who, out of curiosity, wish to approach its gloomy windows. Film lovers associate its design with the images of the American sci-fi action movie The Matrix.

3. Skyscraper MahaNakhon in Bangkok (Thailand)

Looking at this surreal building, most will definitely think that they are already in the matrix. Moreover, it is not their fantasy or associations that "finish" the picture, but its dynamic form turned out to be so realistic that everyone, without exception, sees a skyscraper that is about to collapse.

In fairness, it must be said that it causes such horror only in the first seconds, but when an understanding of what is happening comes, then this design is simply breathtaking, and in a good sense.

4. Hydroelectric power station "Three Gorges" ("Sanxia") on the Yangtze River (China)

The powerful engineering structure of the Three Gorges (Sanxia) hydroelectric power station, created on the Yangtze River, caused not only a storm of protests about its harm to the environment, but is also associated with a global catastrophe. Especially horrifying is the flow of roaring water during the period when the flood gates are opened to prevent flooding.

5. Eltz Castle in Wirschem (Germany)

Castle Eltz (Burg Eltz) in Virschem, built in the best traditions of the Romanesque architectural style and medieval Baroque, is associated with a creepy den of vampires. Either horror films evoke such illusions, or writers have already very colorfully described the castles of the "bloodsuckers", but be that as it may, Eltz causes just animal horror in the dark, especially his outlines in the fog and on a moonlit night are especially frightening. In fact, this is a completely harmless building, which has been owned by one dynasty since the 12th century. Moreover, there have never been any chilling murders and the presence of ghosts in it has never been recorded, but it stubbornly causes gratuitous anxiety and fear.

Proof of the unusual aura of this place is the fact that the medieval castle was never attacked or destroyed, there were no fires and floods, so we can say that it is perfectly preserved. Although, who knows, maybe it was creepy associations that saved him from all sorts of encroachments and destruction.

6. Pyramids of a military base in North Dakota (USA)

The once classified Missile Site Radar, which served as a military air defense base, resembles an eerie truncated pyramid in which the main supervillain of the planets lives. The Americans were so afraid of Soviet ICBMs that they spared $ 6 billion to build a bunker with a radar system. Its disguised 360 ° locators and branched tunnels, which were flooded immediately after the opening of the landfill, still arouse genuine interest among those who like to tickle their nerves, while the rest of the complex causes only fear.

7. Sapporo Memorial Tower (Japan)

The Centennial Memorial Tower was built in 1970. Its creation was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the prefecture's development project, as an expression of gratitude for the hard work of the people who made Hokkaido what it is today and as a symbol of boundless future development. It would seem that the creation of a memorial tower embodying a bright future should have inspired something wonderful. But it was not there, as a result, a 100-meter steel monster appeared in a picturesque place of the park zone, which can be seen from almost any corner of the city.

8. Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee River (USA)

The unusual architectural forms of the hydroelectric dam are more reminiscent of the AT-AT walker, created for the Imperial Army of the ground forces of the Galactic Empire ("Star Wars"), than an engineering structure. The construction of the hydropower plant began in the late 1930s and was completed shortly before the end of World War II. The construction of this particular dam was begun as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal due to frequent flooding and in order to improve navigation on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. According to the editors of Novate. Ru, at the moment (2017) this building is included in the US National Register of Historic Places.

The frightening appearance of the building is not the only reason that causes people's rejection of the new masterpiece of architecture. Even though architects try their best to create ultra-modern objects with the most comfortable space for work, rest and human life, their works are constantly criticized, and sometimes not accepted at all. Why is modern architecture in such disgrace, and what causes particular rejection?