It May Be Ugly, But It Seems to Have Legs

Just when we thought our contribution to the canon of LA ugliness was nearly complete, Christopher Hawthorne dredges back up our Ugliest Building in LA Contest to ask the question what role does ugly play in a city growing denser every day? (He seems to be violating the LA Times's strict anti-blogger policy in doing so. Cara DiMassa - we're looking at you). Hawthorne grabs the issue of ugly by its aesthetically-challenged horns and dismisses the idea of "ugliness in L.A. [as] an architectural virtue." Do you hear that, Eric Owen Moss? This is not to say Hawthorne has all of sudden converted to New Urbanism-style nostalgia. He just seems to be hoping we can finally talk about the ugly and banal without sacrificing our architectural street cred.
· Bringing ‘Ugly’ Back [LA Times]