TITANIC BELFAST, the £76 million visitor centre which opened in the city in March, has been nominated for the least-coveted prize in architecture after months of public voting.
The Carbuncle Cup, awarded annually by Building Design magazine, is aimed at highlighting the worst excesses of British architecture. The organisers said Titanic Belfast was “designed to resemble the collision of a ship and an iceberg”. They concluded the building’s architects plunged to “new depths of inanity in their literal architectural expression”.
The anonymous nominator who proposed Titanic Belfast for inclusion on the shortlist said: “Arrived in Belfast – can confirm Titanic museum is listing to port, likely to sink immediately”.
Titanic Belfast was designed by Texan architect Eric Kuhne and his agency, Civic Arts, in conjunction with Belfast firm Todd Architects. It joins the Orbit tower in London’s Olympic Park, designed by sculptor Anish Kapoor, in the “failed icons” category of the competition.
The Carbuncle Cup, which was launched seven years ago, is named after the Prince of Wales’s description of a new extension at the National Gallery in London as a “monstrous carbuncle”. The final winner of the cup will be announced on August 24th.
Titanic Belfast, which features nine interactive galleries and is the world’s largest Titanic visitor experience, is not without its admirers. The building recently reached the finals of the International Interior Design of the Year awards at the Leading European Architects Forum.