Melbourne's Federation Square among world's ugliest buildings | Travel News | News.com.au

MELBOURNE'S Federation Square has been named among the 10 ugliest buildings in the world.

Virtual Tourist puts Federation Square fifth on its list of eyesores, alongside a library in Kosovo, a television tower in Prague and New Zealand's 1970s-era parliament building.

Gallery Horrible: World’s ugliest buildings

Editors and members of the popular Virtual Tourist travel network rubbished the $450 million events venue in Melbourne's civic heart, starting with its slogan "Melbourne's Meeting Place".

"We're guessing that this is where city residents meet – to go somewhere else," concluded the judges.

"Frenzied and overly complicated, the chaotic feel of the complex is made worse by a web of unsightly wires from which overhead lights dangle."


Federation Square has been mired in controversy for years, undergoing a redesign before its belated opening in October 2002.

Since then, it has provoked fierce debate among locals and tourists who either love or loathe it.

Its architects, who were out of work for six months after its unveiling, were besieged with hate mail from angry critics.

However, Federation Square management claims to have attracted a record 8.4 million visitors last year says the venue is among the top two tourist destinations in Victoria, alongside the Queen Victoria Market.

About 55 million people have visited Federation Square since it opened, according to the latest official count.

Virtual Tourist's list, its second annual compendium of ugly structures around the world, was complied by members of the online traveller's network and it editors.

It was released in the US over the weekend.

The ugliest building was the Morris A Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.

New Zealand's 70s-era "beehive" building, a wing of its parliamentary precinct, was ranked number three.

"A slide projector that fell on a wedding cake that fell on a waterwheel is one description of this building known," they write.

Virtual Tourist general manager Giampiero Ambrosi said the structures were awful.

"Many of these buildings don't have the warmth of an ice cube while others don’t even seem completed," Mr Ambrosi said.