5 Reasons the Modern World Is so Ugly

In the late 80’s My high school Spanish teacher told us that it was a shame that schools are built like industrial warehouses or prisons, but that we were supposed to think creatively within those walls. She remarked that if we really wanted to change education and the state of the world, schools should be built like cathedrals, with rib vaults and stained glass. Now as a high school teacher I hold similar discussions with my own students. Thanks for addressing this School of Life! Elegantly stated!!

I noticed this when I was still in elementary school. Schools looked like prisons. A place where creativity goes to die.

"We have democratized comfort, but made beauty appallingly exclusive". An outstanding statement.

What has been lost in modern architecture is “scale.” This is a known architectural term. It has to do with size—most importantly, the size of a human body. As a human walks down a street, he/she has to relate to the buildings one passes. Modern architecture has forgotten the human body.

Why choose between beauty and function ? When we can have both.

I agree so much. I thought I was in minority. Modern ugliness tires me.

Modern architecture is like a plain cake: no icing, no personality, no soul

We had an architecture student living next to us a year ago. I asked him how much training he gets in aesthetics, to which he replied that he received none. Just build glass boxes and call it good. I watched them destroy countless examples of beautiful homes and buildings in my home town in the 60s and replace them with freeways, parking lots and glass boxes.

Everybody loves to visit old towns with old style buildings, but nobody wants to build more of them. I wish they did. But oh well, there's always alcohol.

“Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers.” — Mignon McLaughlin

This is an inherent problem throughout the whole country of Norway nowadays. Large and ugly modern apartment buildings with a complete lack of adaptation to existing architecture, are massively being built right into the seafront with extraordinary views, meanwhile they're blocking the views for older and smaller buildings, and destroying beautiful and traditional Norwegian townscapes. Such a tragedy for our country. Thank you for this video, it is very important!

It's not just the buildings that are "ugly" , but society as a whole, how people seem to think and their attitudes towards everything.

There is beautiful architecture of every type, but I think one of the big things we’ve lost is local harmony and relatability, which is ever more irrelevant in an age of individuality.

Our children will one day lead the world, but it is our responsibility to show them that this world can be a beautiful place to live...

“Beauty will save the world” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

As a French and european in general i feel lucky because even if there are ugly buildings in our countries most of the landscape and the cities are beautiful and that’s something that often shocked me specially when i went to america or asia. You feel like you are in a protected paradise and the rest of the world has become a huge garbage of ugly cubic towers. I’ve also noticed that i’ve the reversed tourist syndrom, i visit a city in america and when i come back i’m amazed by how beautiful my place is because i get used to the american or asian standard. I’ve never understood why people accepted in rich countries to create so much ugliness

Oh well I thought this was going to be about social media.

"Brutal boxes" is a very accurate description of most modern buildings.

The other day I was working at a site in a part of the city I've never been in. I saw a large, drab, dark grey building with tall fencing surrounding it, and very thin windows sparsely dotted about the structure. Assuming it was a prison, I turned to my partner and said "It's strange they'd put a prison so close to a residential neighborhood"...she then told me it was a elementary school lol.

That's why I really love movies and games with beautiful landscapes and charming character and location designs! We are starving for beauty and nature. Just get a kids book featuring old British countryside: Its depressing how we lack that kind of beauty nowadays.