List of winners of the Sir Hugh Casson Award


The Sir Hugh Casson Award for the worst new building of the year has been awarded annually since 1982 by the 'Nooks and Corners' column of the British satirical magazine Private Eye. The name ironically honours Sir Hugh Casson. Column author Gavin Stamp explained in 2015 that "he would turn up – take a fee – for giving evidence at public inquiries to recommend the demolition of buildings: a trade I despise". Stamp noted that Casson would sometimes mention his office as Vice-Chairman of The Victorian Society when arguing for the demolition of Victorian buildings. The medal of the award uses a sketch of Casson which is a self-portrait.

Winners

YearBuildingCityArchitectCommentReference
1982Ismaili CentreLondonCasson, Conder and Partners"lumpishness, banality, repetitiveness and repulsiveness of texture"Eye 549 p. 7
1983Fire Station, Shaftesbury AvenueLondonRichard Seifert and Partners"It is tawdry fancy-dress architecture, without life or imagination"Eye 575 p. 7
1984Renault CentreSwindonFoster and Associates"You can tell the Renault Centre is a whizzy High-Tech building because it is painted bright yellow"Eye 602 p. 9
1985Lloyd's buildingLondonRichard Rogers and Partners"a great glazed grey warehouse... how astonishingly naive it is as architecture"Eye 627 p. 7
1986Clore Gallery, Tate BritainLondonJames Stirling"a vast hole-in-the-wall entrance, a gratuitous neo-Constructivist unsupported corner"Eye 653 p. 9
1987Police Station at Buckingham PalaceLondonProperty Services Agency"ugly, obtrusive, insensitive, banal"Eye 679 p. 7
1988Skylines Village, Isle of DogsLondonMaxwell Hutchinson"a 45-degree triangle on its side... hyped-up mediocrity"Eye 706 p. 9
1989The MoundEdinburghAllies and Morrison"a series of pointless, pretentious structures"Eye 733 p. 9
1990Concert HallGlasgowSir Leslie Martin"a building which looks as if it was designed in 1950 in, say, Bulgaria"Eye 757 p. 9
1991Sainsbury Wing, National GalleryLondonRobert Venturi"the elaborate and expensive camp joke"Eye 784 p. 9
1992United Kingdom pavilion, Expo '92SevilleNicholas Grimshaw"a showy, pretentious exterior with nothing behind it"Eye 810 p. 11
1993Maitland Robinson Library, Downing CollegeCambridgeQuinlan Terry"a gauche and vulgar essay in misunderstood Greek Classicism"Eye 836 p. 7
1994Principal's Lodgings, Harris Manchester CollegeOxfordPeter Yiangou"illiterate red-brick neo-Georgian"Eye 862 p. 9
1995Faculty of LawCambridgeFoster and Partners"a long extruded half-cylinder of glass and stainless steel"Eye 888 p. 7
1996House for an Art LoverGlasgowCharles Rennie Mackintosh" unreal design by long dead architect"Eye 914 p. 12
1997Scottish Exhibition and Conference CentreGlasgowFoster and Partners"a triumphant betrayal of all that modern architecture was meant to stand for"Eye 940 p. 9
1998Buchanan GalleriesGlasgowLegge Ericsson, Jenkins and Marr"a triumph of barbarism, vulgarity, ineptitude"Eye 967 p. 9
1999Millennium DomeLondonRichard Rogers and Partners"a huge circular plastic tent... extravagant, vapid toy"Eye 992 p. 17
2000Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel, Pangbourne CollegePangbourneCrispin Wride Architectural Design Studio"so very like the Ruskin Library that its 'architects' are obviously shameless"Eye 1018 p. 9
2001The ForumNorwichMichael Hopkins and Partners"all entrance... a huge and crude building"Eye 1045 p. 12
2002Extension to City Art GalleryManchesterMichael Hopkins and Partners"the splendid and really beautiful interiors of the original building.. have been gratuitously spoiled"Eye 1070 p. 12
2003Juxon House, Paternoster SquareLondonWilliam Whitfield"an overdone embarrassing compromise, a dog's dinner"Eye 1097 p. 15
2004Scottish Parliament BuildingEdinburghEnric Miralles"confused and confusing mish-mash of upturned boats and leaflike forms"Eye 1122 p. 12
2005Monument to the Women of World War IILondonJohn W. Mills"crude and inept... from a distance, the memorial becomes an incoherent dark lump, formless and inelegant"Eye 1149 p. 14
2006Palestra, Blackfriars RoadLondonSMC Alsop"a giant gimmick that is also plain ugly"Eye 1174 p. 14
2007The Meeting Place statue, St Pancras stationLondonPaul Day"this tasteless creation"Eye 1200 p. 14
2008The PublicWest BromwichWill Alsop"a big box... with no obvious entrances"Eye 1226 p. 12
2009One Hyde ParkLondonRogers Stirk Harbour + Partners"an overweening ... masterpiece"Eye 1252 p. 15
2010One New ChangeLondonJean Nouvel"on this crucial, prominent site, Nouvel's incoherent, solipsistic glazed lump is an insult to St Paul's"Eye 1278 p. 14
2011Museum of LiverpoolLiverpool3XN and AEW Architects"a cheap rip-off of Deconstructivist style"Eye 1304 p. 12
2012RAF Bomber Command MemorialLondonLiam O'Connor"pompous, self-regarding and triumphalist"Eye 1330 p. 12
2013Restaurant at the Serpentine Sackler GalleryLondonZaha Hadid Architects"as incoherent as it is expressionistic"Eye 1356 p. 8
2014Reid Building, Glasgow School of ArtGlasgowSteven Holl Architects"crude and insufferably arrogant essay in minimalist neo-modernism"Eye 1382 p. 18
2015Investcorp Building, St Antony's College, OxfordOxford Zaha Hadid Architects"a long, curved, metallic thing like a big shiny slug"Eye 1408 p. 21
2016NEO Bankside and The Switch HouseLondonRogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Herzog & de Meuron"ragged, discordant and rather incoherent in both surface modelling and overall form", "new, discordant brickwork"Eye 1434 p. 20
2017Statue of George Orwell, Broadcasting HouseLondonMartin Jennings"The great man is depicted holding a fag, dressed in a crumpled suit and standing like a music hall artist about to crack a joke. The plinth is pathetic"Eye 1460 p. 20