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The world's ugliest buildings are being destroyed

The world's ugliest buildings are being destroyed

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It's doomsday for some of the world's most identifiable Brutalist structures, products of a unique architectural movement defined by thick, exposed concrete and unapologetically harsh angles that flourished in the middle part of the 20th century. Considering how unique they are — and how unlikely it is that Brutalism will make a comeback any time soon — there's an argument to be made that preservation should be a priority. Those efforts have largely failed so far: take Chicago's Prentice Women's Hospital, for instance, which was recently demolished after years of fighting to make way for a more modern replacement. The Awl's Anthony Paletta takes a look at the untimely ends of these monuments to ugliness and the efforts to preserve what's left of them.