Horrible Halloween architecture

2012-10-25T07:00:00+01:00

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The National Fisheries Development Board in India is next on our list of buildings that would make anyone scream

Forget pumpkins and witches’ hats - for a real fright this Halloween nothing beats the worst excesses of modern architecture. This week, Building peers out from behind the sofa at some buildings that would make anyone want to scream

National Fisheries Development Board

Horror Horror

Location Hyderabad, India
Architect GA Architects
Function Office
Completed 2012

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? This building is so bad it could quite easily be both. India has a long and shameful history of buildings designed to look like anything from musical instruments (Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore: guitar) to the solar system (Indira Gandhi Planetarium, Lucknow: Saturn). But this recently opened piscine aberration plummets new depths. If the warped cladding, incongruous staircase and moronic concept weren’t bad enough, according to Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, the £2.3m offices was actually conceived to “increase [India’s] share of fisheries exports in the world market”. Pawar’s straight-faced commendation is to be applauded for studiously avoiding all direct references to ministerial resignations or architectural prosecution. However, Pawar and company may not be off the fish-hook just yet. It is not just Indian taxpayers and local residents likely to be irked by this armour-plated aquatic apparition, Disney may well be aggrieved too. The animated film giant is hard at work on a sequel to the £550m grossing 2003 classic Finding Nemo. They needn’t have bothered, he’s in Hyderabad.

Look out for Friday’s feature with the full list gruesome buildings in print, online and on our tablet app

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Architects

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