Pair Of London Projects Make Carbuncle Cup Shortlist

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 152 months ago
Pair Of London Projects Make Carbuncle Cup Shortlist


A day after a trio of London buildings were named on the Stirling Prize shortlist, two more projects were listed among the contenders for that hallowed award's polar opposite: the Carbuncle Cup.

Founded in 2006, the Carbuncle Cup is an annual gong that seeks to reward (surely 'name and shame'? Ed) the very worst new building of the past year. Founded and organised by Building Design magazine, it is named for the epithet used by Prince Charles in a 1984 speech, in which he described a proposed extension to the National Gallery as like "a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a beloved friend"; an attack that sparked the ongoing war between the Prince and the architectural cognoscenti.

Last year's winner was the Strata tower in Elephant & Castle. This year, the six-strong shortlist includes another controversial London residential unit: One Hyde Park, blasted in the citation as a "glistening silo of sheikhs" with the "barren feel of a corporate plaza". The other local project is Phoenix High School in Shepherd's Bush, a "bleak attempt at novelty" that looks like it was "inspired [by] a late-night game of Jenga".

Perhaps surprisingly, one building that was heavily tipped but didn't make the final shortlist is One New Change, which, situated beside St. Paul's Cathedral, might be said to have more carbuncular credit than some of the others.

The winner will be announced next month.

More on the Carbuncle Cup at Building Design.

Last Updated 22 July 2011