Urban Eyesores - Ugly Architecture

Great cities worldwide have their own architectural eyesores such as Montparnasse Tower in Paris. Many of them are no more than a mediocre design by unknown archtiects, but also many of them were desinged by renowned architects who claimed their work to embody the best of the design ideas of the time. In London, a leading architect had proposed an idea of X-rating system which meant some ugly city buidings to be rated X for tearing down. In New York, a similar idea is proposed. So, urban planners and designers should contemplate how to prevent in advance these future eyesores. They might wonder whether the current land use code, design guidelines and review system is good enough to prevent eyesore architectures. It seems more urgent in Seoul as many public buildings and private towers are on drawing board in this quickly-reshaping mega city.