50 WORST ARCHITECTURE FAILS

 50 Worst Architecture Fails

50. Lian Yak Building (Hotel New World)

Location: Singapore

Year of Fail: 1986

In 1986 a six-story building occupied by a hotel, bank and nightclub crumbled to the ground in under 60 seconds, trapping 50 people beneath rubble, 33 of whom were killed. Inquiry revealed that the building’s original engineer had made a serious error. While he had calculated and considered the building’s live load (the weight of the building’s occupants, furniture, fixtures, etc.) he never found the building’s dead load (the weight of the building itself). Due to this slip-up, the building could not support its own weight and collapse was imminent.

49. Katowice Trade Hall

Location: Chorzów, Poland

Year of Fail: 2006

During an international fair in 2006, the roof of Katowice Trade Hall collapsed atop roughly 700 people, killing 65 and injuring 170. The building’s management neglected to remove snow accumulation, resulting in an overload of over 100%. Moreover, the roof had buckled under snowfall in 2002 and the management did not perform the necessary repairs, obtain clearances or even run tests to ensure that the building was safe thereafter. Further investigation also revealed that the architect’s plans were changed during initial construction in order to cut building costs.

48. Basmanny Market

Location: Moscow, Russia

Year of Fail: 2006

The snow-ladden roof of this vegetable market fell in 2006, killing 66 people. While snow-build up was a factor, corrosion caused by inadequate waterproofing and general maintenance negligence by the building’s management was primarily to blame. Design flaws may have also contributed to the failure: another building by the same architect experienced a similar roof collapse that killed 28 people two years prior.

47. Charing Cross Subway System

Location: London

Year of Fail: 1905

Six people died and 27 were injured when the iron-and-glass arched roof of Charring Cross Station fell during a maintenance project in 1905. A flawed section of ironwork and the extra weight of construction materials caused two 70-foot sections of roof to fall onto the platforms and tracks. Along with the roof, an entire wall of the building came crashing down as well.

46. Fidenae Stadium

Location: Rome, Italy

Year of Fail: 27 A.D.

Roman emperor Tiberius had banned gladiatorial games. When the veto was lifted, stadiums were constructed extremely quickly and huge crowds flocked to the events. One such stadium, built with cheap materials and little to no architectural planning, collapsed in 27 A.D. killing and injuring 20,000 of the 50,000 spectators, making it the deadliest stadium disaster in history. In response, the Roman Senate banned builders below a certain income level from hosting gladiatorial shows and passed laws requiring stadium inspection and certification prior to occupancy.

45. Pétionville School

Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Year of Fail: 2008

At least 93 people, mainly children, were killed and over 150 injured when the church-operated Collège La Promesse Évangélique collapsed in 2008. The owner of the school, a minister and preacher, was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter when he admitted that he had built the school himself without consulting an engineer and using very little structural steel or cement to hold the individual concrete blocks that composed the building together.

44. Hintze Ribeiro Bridge

Location: Castelo de Paiva, Portugal

Year of Fail: 2001

This 100-year-old bridge over the Duoro River collapsed in 2001, killing 59 people. Two decades of illegal sand extraction compromised the stability of t he bridge’s pillars. Authorities knew about the extraction and turned a blind eye, despite warnings from divers and technicians that the bridge was lacking support. The Minister of Transportation resigned hours after the collapse, while rescue efforts were still underway.

43. The Silver Bridge

Location: Point Pleasant, West Virginia

Year of Fail: 1967

A popular commuter route across the Ohio River, The Silver Bridge collapsed during rush hour traffic in 1967. 37 vehicles were crossing the bridge at the time and 31 fell into the river, resulting in 46 deaths and 9 serious injuries. When the suspension bridge was constructed in 1928, a typical car weighed about 1,500 lb and the structure’s load limits were calculated off this number. However, at the time of the failure in 1967 the average automobile was closer to 4,000 lb, putting far more stress on the bridge than intended. Corrosion had caused cracks to form over the years and it was only a matter of time before the weight was too much to bear.

42. Hangzhou Subway Tunnel

Location: Zhejiang Province, China

Year of Fail: 2008

In 2008 a section of subway tunnel under construction caved in creating a giant sinkhole that swallowed both construction staff working underground and passengers in cars from the road above. Buried underneath steel beams and rubble, 21 people were killed and 24 were injured. In addition to a flimsy system of supports and moldings, the tunnel had been built over unstable, swampy ground. Suggestions to build elsewhere were ignored due to the interests of real estate developers.

41. Banqiao Reservoir Dam

Location: Henan Province, China

Year of Fail: 1975

Built in 1952, the government deemed Banqiao “unbreakable” despite early signs of poor construction and a leading hydrologist’s warning that there were too few water-regulating gates. While these errors certainly contributed to the dam failure in 1975, the super typhoon that preceded the break may have destroyed even a perfect dam. After a year’s worth of rain fell in 24 hours, a message was sent to open the dam gates. The information was never received and Banqiao’s walls ultimately gave way, precipitating the failure of 62 dams in total. The resulting flood caused a wave 6.2 miles wide to rush onto the plains below at over 30 miles per hour. Approximately 26,000 people died during the flooding and another 145,000 perished during ensuing famine and epidemics.

40. C.W. Post College Dome Auditorium

Location: Brookville, NY

Year of Fail: 1978

Built in 1970, this 3,500 person theater collapsed in 1978 following a blizzard. While piled up snow and ice were the ultimate cause of collapse, faulty design made the shallow dome particularly vulnerable. Though compliant with all codes, the architect that designed the building only considered uniform roof loads, ignoring the fact that snow often drifts, causing certain spots to bear more weight than others. Luckily, no one was in the building when the roof caved and fell, saving the college and the architect from a whole lot of lawsuits.

39. The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Location: Pisa, Italy

Year of Fail: 1178

Originally angled 5.5 degrees, the tower’s top is horizontally displaced almost thirteen feet from where it would be were the tower perfectly vertical. Constructed in three stages over 177 years, the tower began to sink in 1178 due to a major initial design flaw: a thin foundation set in unstable subsoil. To compensate for the fact that one side of the tower sunk lower, the engineers working on the structure in 1272 built upper floors with one side taller than the other. Though all floors were completed in 1372, strengthening of the structure to ensure the tower doesn’t topple has been a routine practice since.

38. Husky Stadium

Location: The University of Washington

Year of Fail: 1987

Husky Stadium made headlines in 1987, when a 215-foot bleacher addition caused the grandstands to crumble in just 12 seconds. Six of the nine wire cables supporting the structure during renovation were removed prematurely, causing 250 tons of steel to sway and then collapse, luckily not on top of any students or construction workers.

37. Rainbow Bridge

Location: Sichuan Province

Year of Fail: 1999

A pedestrian bridge spanning the Qi River crashed down just three years after being built, resulting in 40 deaths and 14 injuries. Rust, weak concrete and awful welding were to blame for the 1999 disaster.

36. The Hyatt Regency

Location: Kansas City, MO

Year of Fail: 1981

In the summer of 1981, 114 people were killed and 216 injured when two walkways suspended from the hotel ceiling fell onto a crowded tea ceremony taking place in the lobby below. A subtle but flawed design change during construction doubled the load on the fourth floor walkway, rendering the path unstable even without people present. The added weight of hotel patrons gathering to watch the tea ceremony beneath them caused the fourth floor walkway to collapse onto the second floor walkway. Both walkways then crashed to the lobby floor below. To make matters worse, falling debris severed the hotel’s water pipes flooding the lobby and putting those trapped at a high risk of drowning.

35. Tay Bridge

Location: Fife, Scotland

Year of Fail: 1879

Connecting Dundee and Wormit, the center section of Tay Bridge collapsed in 1879. A train running on the bridge’s track fell into the Firth of Tay, killing all 75 passengers on board. Top-heavy, susceptible to high winds and built with low-quality support columns, inspectors noted that the bridge was poorly designed and shoddily constructed. Evidence of deterioration in the months prior to failure indicated that the bridge was also badly maintained.

34. Skyline Towers

Location: Bailey’s Crossroads, VA

Year of Fail: 1973

In 1973, 14 people were killed and 34 were injured when the center section of the 26-story Skyline Plaza gave way, dropping large chunks of concrete and steel onto the unsuspecting victims below. The crash was caused by the premature removal of shoring from underneath newly poured floors.

33. The Val di Stava Dam

Location: Stava, Italy

Year of Fail: 1985

In one of Italy’s worst national disasters, the Val di Stava dam failed in 1985, killing 268 people, demolishing 63 buildings and destroying 8 bridges. When a pump in the upper damn began to sag, drainage became less effective. However, water continued to be pumped into the reservoir behind the dam at the same rate, increasing pressure on the upper dam’s banks. Water infiltrated the banks, liquefying the soil in the dam walls, which ultimately broke. The upper dam’s water rushed into the lower dam, which failed 30 seconds later.

32. Buffalo Creek Dam

Location: Logan County, West VA

Year of Fail: 1972

Declared “satisfactory” by a federal inspector four days beforehand, an impoundment dam of the Buffalo Creek Coal Company burst in 1972, sending 138 million gallons of black waste water careening down a tight hollow. Residents of the area long feared a dam break and expressed concerns to both the state and national government, neither of which took the necessary steps to fix the dam’s deficiencies. When heavy rains caused the water level to rise quickly, the poorly designed and ill constructed dam inevitably gave way. 125 were killed, 1,000 were injured, 500 homes were destroyed and more than $400 million was reported in damages.

31. The Pemberton Mill

Location: Lawrence, MA

Year of Fail: 1860

An estimated 145 workers were killed and 166 injured in 1860 when the upper floors of the mill came down on those below without any advanced warning. The extra-heavy machinery crowding the top floor, along with poorly mortared walls and cheap, brittle iron pillars are believed to have caused the disaster. While rescuing the 600 workers, someone knocked over an oil lantern, setting the ruins aflame. One man trapped in the rubble supposedly slit his own throat to avoid being burned alive.

30. Versailles Wedding Hall

Location: Jerusalem, Israel

Year of Fail: 2001

When designed, the wedding hall was to have one three-story side and one two-story side. Late in construction, the owners changed the plan to add a floor to the shorter side. Building upon what was designed to be a roof, the third story floor was subject to greater loading than originally expected and partitions were added to mitigate the extra weight. A few days before the collapse that killed 23 and injured 380, the owners removed the partitions, causing the third story floor to sag. Thinking this was just an aesthetic problem the owners leveled the floor by adding grout and fill. The extra weight on the already weak area, caused the third floor, hosting a wedding at the time, to come crashing down on those below.

29. Residential Balcony

Location: Chicago, IL

Year of Fail: 2003

The deadliest porch collapse in U.S. history occurred in 2003, when an overloaded balcony fell during an apartment party, killing 13 and seriously injuring 57. A large number of errors in the construction of the wooden balcony, combined with 20-30 more people than the structure was designed to hold, caused the third floor porch to collapse and subsequently pull down the two balconies below. An investigation found that the property owner had knowingly broken several city codes by installing furnaces on the balconies and increasing the square footage of each beyond what’s permitted. In addition, inadequate supports, undersized wood and incorrect screws were used during construction.

28. Pier 34

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Year of Fail: 2000

In May of 2000 this 91-year-old pier crumbled into the Delaware River, killing three people and injuring 31 others. Three days prior to collapse, an inspection revealed a number of serious structural problems. Despite being warned that the pier was in danger of complete failure, both the owner of the pier and the proprietor of a nightclub on the pier did little to reinforce the dock.  Both men were ultimately charged with 3rd degree murder.

27. Knickerbocker Theater

Location: Washington, D.C.

Year of Fail: 1922

Knickerbocker theater crumbled upon hundreds of patrons in 1922, killing 98 people and injuring another 133. A record snowstorm had hit D.C. in the days before the collapse, causing over two feet of snow to pile up on the theater roof. The added weight, along with a laundry list of structural defects, caused the roof to fall onto the balcony, which then fell onto the orchestra seating, crushing and trapping hundreds. Both the architect that designed the theater and the owner of the building later committed suicide.

26. Viale Giotto 120 Building

Location: Foggia, Italy

Year of Fail: 1999

In 1999 this entire six-story building imploded in under 20 seconds, killing 67 of the 71 people present. While there were almost no warning signs immediately prior to the collapse, structural concerns, namely strange squeaks and misaligned windows and doors were reported two years before the tragedy. A housing boom in the 1960’s led inexperienced builders to jump into the business and cut corners in order to compete with longstanding companies. Viale Giotto 120 was one such building and the implosion was ultimately blamed on poor materials and careless workmanship.

25. Ville Marie Tunnel

Location: Montreal, Canada

Year of Fail: 2011

In July of 2011 a concrete beam, and the section of the roof it was supporting, collapsed inside this downtown tunnel.  Traffic was luckily sparse and no one was killed. Still under investigation, engineers fault the province for the failure, stating that inspections of the tunnel were rare and cursory. In addition, several repairs that had been suggested in 2008 were not completed, or in some cases, even begun by the transit department at the time of collapse. The government, however, maintains that poorly planned construction work ordered by the tunnel’s engineers, and carried out on the day of destruction, is to blame.

24. Tuo River Bridge

Location: Fenghuang, China

Year of Fail: 2007

In 2007, this pedestrian and vehicle bridge crashed down during construction when the supportive frame of the 140-foot stone and cement structure was removed in order to work on another section. Untrained migrant workers; shoddy, cost-cutting materials; and the complete absence of steel reinforcement caused the Tuo River bridge to bury nearly 60 people, 36 of whom were killed.

23. Quebec Bridge

Location: Quebec City, Canada

Year of Fail: 1907

Able to span long distances and easy to construct, the steel truss cantilever bridge was a major engineering breakthrough when invented in the mid 1800’s. At 1,800 feet, the Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River is the longest bridge of this type in the world. Two collapses also make this one of the most catastrophic bridges in the world. While being constructed in 1907, a mistake in load capacity calculations caused a large chunk of the bridge to come crashing down on workers, killing 75 of the 86 present. While rebuilding the bridge in 1916, the central span slipped while being hoisted into place, killing another 13 workers.

22. Taum Sauk Reservoir

Location: Missouri

Year of Fail: 2005

With an upper reservoir 800 feet above the hydroelectric plant it served, Taum Sauk had a larger head than The Hoover Dam. When a section of the reservoir gave way in 2005, one billion gallons of water rushed down a small creek toward two state parks.  The superintendant of the parks, along with his wife and three kids, were swept away when a wall of water demolished their house. Reports found that a computer malfunction caused the reservoir to continue filling despite the water being at maximum level. The added weight caused the walls, which had been weakened by prolonged leaks, to crumble like piecrust.

21. Big Dig Ceiling Collapse

Location: Boston, MA

Year of Fail: 2006

The Big Dig, a project that had already put MA in debt and caused nonstop traffic became even more problematic in 2006 when a three-ton ceiling panel came crashing down inside the ramp connecting I-93 North to I-90 East, killing a passenger and injuring a driver. An extensive inquiry found that that epoxy glue used to hold the roof in place during construction was not appropriate for long-term bonding.

20. Pittwater High School

Location: Sydney, Australia

Year of Fail: 1986

In the 1960’s architect Dante Bini developed a technique that involved laying concrete over a balloon of plastic to create a domed structure called a “Binishell.” One such structure was located in Sydney and housed a high school. In 1986, just minutes after students had filled the building, the dome completely collapsed. An error on the first night of construction was chiefly responsible: One of the blowers used to keep the dome static was accidentally shut off, causing the concrete to buckle. Noticing the error, the chief engineer built a concrete cap to strengthen the dome, but the extra load only served to contribute to the cave in.

19. Sampong Department Store

Location: Korea

Year of Fail: 1995

Initially conceived as a four-floor office building, the chairman of the property called for changes during construction that would allow the building to function as a large department store instead. Several support columns were cut away in order to install elevators and the building’s air conditioning unit was moved to the roof, creating a load four times the design limit. Moreover, the owner added a fifth floor despite warnings of imminent collapse. In 1995, five years after it was completed, all of the building’s columns in the south wing gave way, trapping more than 1,500 shoppers and killing 502 people in a mere 20 seconds.

18. Seongsu Bridge

Location: Seoul, South Korea

Year of Fail: 1994

Spanning the Han River, this 3,800 foot-long bridge was completed in 1979 and collapsed in 1994 due to improper welding of the steel trusses under the concrete slab roadway. 32 people died and 17 were injured when one of the slabs broke off and went crashing into the water below.

17. Teton Dam

Location: Idaho

Year of Fail: 1976

Upon filling for the first time in 1976, the Teton Dam broke, sending water moving at 2,000,000 cubic feet per second into the Teton River canyon, flooding farmland and towns located downstream. Causing $1-2 billion in damages, 11 people and 13,000 head of cattle were killed. It was found that the permeable loess soil used in core construction and to patch foundation fissures allowed water to seep into the dam, causing internal erosion and ultimate collapse.

16. I-35W Bridge Over the Mississippi River

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Year of Fail: 2007

An eight-lane steel truss arch bridge suddenly collapsed during a busy rush hour commute in 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145. Built in 1967 and deemed “structurally deficient” by the federal government in both 1991 and 2005, the bridge was set to be replaced in 2020.  At the time of collapse, 575,000 extra pounds of construction material and equipment sat on the bridge, increasing the load placed on gusset plates that were already undersized. Approximately 100 vehicles were involved in the collapse, sending their occupants and 18 construction workers 115 feet down to the river or onto its bank.

15. Walt Disney Concert Hall

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Year of Fail: 2003

When Frank Gehry revealed this striking, stainless steel structure in 2003, he did so to much fanfare. However, in the years immediately following completion, neighbors voiced complaints: the super-shiny panels on the exterior of the building reflected sunlight into nearby apartments, raising the temperature of the affected homes by 15 degrees Fahrenheit and requiring residents to pay exorbitant air conditioning bills. To avoid lawsuits, Gehry’s team was forced to cover the gleaming panels with a dull cloth in 2005.

14. Gasconade Railroad Bridge

Location: Gasconade, MO

Year of Fail: 1855

A rather blatant oversight—temporary trestle work was never replaced with the permanent structure—during the inaugural run of the The Pacific Railroad in 1855 caused this wooden rail bridge to collapse, killing over 30 people and injuring hundreds. The train that plummeted from the bridge was full of special guests and dignitaries that the governor had invited to celebrate the new route to the state capital.

13. Yarmouth Bridge

Location: Yarmouth, England

Year of Fail: 1845

People had crowded onto this suspension bridge in 1845 to see a circus clown go down the river in a barrel pulled by geese (Yes, this really happened). When the weight of the people shifted as the barrel passed underneath the bridge, the suspension chains on the south side snapped and the bridge deck tipped over. 79 people, including many children, drowned as a result.

 

12. Kemper Arena

Location:  Kansas City, MO

Year of Fail: 1979

To avoid using columns that would obstruct field views, the roof on Kemper Arena was suspended from trusses. In 1979, the roof collapsed, luckily without any people inside. Designed to release rainwater slowly to reduce flooding, a heavy storm caused water to collect and pool anywhere the roof sagged, creating excess weight. In addition, the roof was suspended from hangers, and the strength of their bolts had been miscalculated.

 

11. W.E.B. Du Bois Library

Location: Amherst, MA

Year of Fail: 1974

Standing 26 stories high, this UMASS building is the tallest library in the U.S. Within two months of opening in 1974, the building began shedding brick chips—and in some accounts, full bricks—for an unknown reason. The leading urban myth attributes the shedding to a failure by the engineer to calculate the weight of the books to be housed in the library. In ’79 60,000 books were removed and a number of library floors were closed in order to reduce foot traffic. A 2.3 million dollar renovation in 1986 solved the brick problem, but another arose: the building may be slowly sinking.

10. South Fork Dam

Location: Johnstown, PA

Year of Fail: 1889

In 1889 the South Fork Dam unleashed a torrent of 20 million tons of water upon Johnstown, killing over 2,200 people. While the court deemed the dam break an “Act of God,” Johnstown residents pinned the blame on poor maintenance by the dam’s owners, who chose to patch leaks with straw and mud instead of performing the major fix necessary. Moreover, a previous owner removed and sold three cast-iron pipes responsible for regulating water release.

9. Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Location: Tacoma, WA

Year of Fail: 1940

Opened to the public on July 1, 1940, this suspension bridge collapsed—rather spectacularly—a mere four months later. Workers noted that the bridge, which they called “Galloping Gertie,” had oscillated even as it was being built, even causing seasickness for some. Lack of a truss and inadequate girders, both efforts to keep construction costs low, were to blame for the collapse, which miraculously had no human casualties.

8. Vdara Hotel & Spa

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Year of Fail: 2009

Featuring a unique, curved design, the Vdara Hotel & Spa was opened in 2009. After guests complained of being singed while sitting at the pool, the engineers realized that the building’s design collected the sun’s rays and radiated them to the swimming area. In addition to skin burns, guests reported plastic bags melting before their eyes and pieces of hair burning right off their heads.

7. St. Francis Dam

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Year of Fail: 1928

The second greatest loss of life in California state history, St. Francis dam suffered a catastrophic failure in 1928, releasing 12 billion gallons of water in a 125-foot wave that killed more than 600 people. Almost two miles wide and traveling five miles per hour, victims and debris were emptied into the Pacific Ocean, 54 miles from the reservoir and dam site. Structural additions that increased water capacity, cracks ignored by engineers and the instability of the rock under the dam were to blame. On the morning of the failure, the dam keeper reported a new leak that appeared to indicate water eroding the foundations of the dam, but The Department of Water and Power deemed the dam safe.

6. John Hancock Tower

Location: Boston, MA

Year of Fail: 1973

Once the tallest building in the U.S. outside of New York City, the 100-floor skyscraper built in 1968 won accolades from the architecture and design communities. That is, until an error in the window design caused 500-pound windowpanes to detach from the building and crash to the sidewalk hundreds of feet below. Police had to evacuate neighboring streets any time winds reached 45 MPH. In 1973, all 10,344 windowpanes were replaced at a cost of $5,000,000. During the repairs, sheets of plywood replaced empty windows of the building, earning it the nickname “Plywood Palace.”

5. Pier One Playground

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Year of Fail: 2010

While the playground isn’t a huge draw for the park, the architects should have paid it a bit more attention. In constructing the futuristic equipment out of pure steel, they failed to think about how the material would fare in the summer months. Heating up to 127 degrees Fahrenheit in the July sun, children couldn’t actually play on any of the apparatuses.

4. The Aon Center

Location: Chicago, IL

Year of Fail: 1974

Built in 1973, the architects placed form above function, neglecting to realize that while stunning, the Carrara marble they used to construct the exterior of The Aon Center was thinner and lighter than more typical building materials. A year after the building went up, one of the marble slabs detached and crashed into the roof of the Prudential Center next door. When an investigation revealed that this might not be a one-time occurrence, the building was resurfaced at a cost of over $80,000,000.

3. Ronan Point Apartment Building

Location: London

Year of Fail: 1968

Built from pre-fabricated concrete panels held together by bolts, Ronan Point was such a large undertaking that quality control by the architects was almost nonexistent during construction. When an explosion in a single apartment caused an entire corner of the 22-floor building to topple like dominoes, it was found that water-damaged bolts and joints filled with newspaper, rather than concrete, caused the wall panels to crack and collapse. Miraculously, only four of the 260 people in the building were killed in this 1968 disaster.

2. The Lotus Riverside

Location: Shanghai, China

Year of Fail: 2009

In 2009 one of the eleven 13-story buildings in this residential apartment complex, fell over, landing almost completely intact and just missing a neighboring building. When creating a parking structure beneath the building, workers had placed removed earth into a nearby landfill. The weight of the added dirt caused the banks of a bordering river to collapse and the resulting water infiltrated the building’s base, turning the foundation to mud and causing the building to topple onto its side.

1. Highway 19 Overpass

Location: Laval, Quebec

Year of Fail: 2006

A 66-foot section of the De la Concorde overpass in this Montreal suburb gave way in 2006, crushing two vehicles under concrete and causing a third to fall over the edge of the roadway. Five people were killed and six others were seriously injured. Built in 1970, a number of factors contributed to the ’06 collapse: poor initial design, incorrectly placed rebar reinforcement, low quality concrete and a fracture along the horizontal plane that had grown in the years before the catastrophe.