Daily Caller, one of the conservative newspapers in the United States has come up with a list of the ugliest universities in terms of its architecture.
Purchase College, resembling a huge security prison, tops the list. Constructed at the height of Modernism in 1967 by some of the most prominent American architectural firms and architects, the property features more dark bricks and few windows.
"What makes the Purchase Campus remarkable is that it offers a clear and perfectly straightforward solution to a problem that has defeated many comparable enterprises. It brings together highly gifted and quite individuality, but predetermined the outcome in favor of single unifying idea," the college said in a statement.
The "Travel and Leisure" magazine said that the buildings radiate "an ominous vibe more appropriate for New York's Sing Sing Prison." The college with black canvas was named one of ugliest campuses by the magazine in its October 2013 issue.
The second on the list was the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Bearing a resemblance to a concrete spaceship, the campus buildings were designed by internationally renowned Modernist architect Paul Rudolph in the early 1960s.
In an attempt to distinguish the campus from the outside world, Rudolph used rough concrete - an essential element of the style Brutalism - for both interiors and exteriors of each building. He also installed large windows.
The university described as "Paul Rudolph's 710-acre architectural vision of an academic utopia." The stark stone-vrey buildings stand out from traditional New England structures.
"From the beginning it had a different look to it with the rising pillars of the first building," said Frederick Gifun, a retired history professor at the university. "The Brutalist architecture was in stark contrast with the rural settings," South Coast Today reports.
The magazine that also included Dartmouth College in the 2013 list said that the Brutalist style of architecture has been mostly ridiculed since its birth in the 1960s.
Top 10 Ugliest Universities in United States
Purchase College
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
University of Albany
Hampshire College
Rochester Institute of Technology
University of Illinois Chicago
Rutgers University New Brunswick
Brandeis University
Harvey Mudd College
University of Massachusetts Amherst
