Empathy, good taste, self-awareness, and the ability to think ahead and follow through on your plans are all vital skills for architects, urban planners, contractors, surveyors, engineers, and designers. But unfortunately, some ‘professionals’ are lacking in all of these fields. And this leads to less-than-perfect cities and homes that are real eyesores.

The popular ‘[Bad] Planning’ account on X is a celebration of all the awful stuff “imposed on our environment.” We’ve collected some of the biggest, most recent architectural and design planning fails to make your inner builder gasp and cringe. Scroll down for a crash course in what not to do if you’re ever tasked with building something.

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Your designs have to be as clear as possible. The less ambiguity there is, the easier it is for everyone, from the architect to the contractors, to build something great and make their clients happy. This means that, as a designer, if you want your project to be of stellar quality, you have to put in a ton of effort to keep everyone involved in the project on the same page.

A big part of your responsibility as a designer is taking the time and energy to expand your knowledge, learning about materials, manufacturing processes, and keeping in mind any potential challenges that can happen during the planning and building process. If you can spot these problems ahead of time, you’re saving yourself a lot of money, avoiding headaches, and maintaining a good reputation. And if you’re up-to-date with the latest trends, you’re at an advantage.

Of course, let’s not be naive. No matter how talented and experienced you are, you can’t control every tiny little detail of the building process. Someone, somewhere, will mess up at some point in time. Maybe someone misinterprets your plans. Maybe someone else decides to cut corners, or they’re not as skilled at their job as they let on. You have to be flexible, adaptable, and react to (unpleasant) surprises.

Though your sharp mind and insights are fundamental to your job as a designer or architect, you can’t ignore your people skills either. At the end of the day, the entire project is a team effort. And if you constantly mismanage and mistreat your contractors, it’ll affect the final result. You have to treat everyone you work with with the respect they deserve, and communicate well.

Though your sense of taste can be very subjective, people can usually intuitively tell if something has been designed well or not.

Truly good design is empathetic and takes the consumer’s wants and needs into account, whether you’re talking about the building you live in or a product you’re considering buying.

As legendary designer Dieter Rams noted, good design is innovative, makes the product useful, and is aesthetic.

Truly good designs are also understandable, unobtrusive, honest, long-lasting, and environmentally-friendly.

They must also be thorough down to the last detail and, ironically, as little designed as possible.

You’re supposed to do away with non-essential details and concentrate on the main aspects of whatever it is you’re designing.

According to Planetizen, one of the biggest issues with urban planning recently is the lack of adequate infrastructure for pedestrians.

Another widespread problem is the danger that construction sites pose to passersby, potentially leading to injury or worse.

Not to mention that poor urban planning negatively affects women’s safety.

“For example, the rise of sprawling urban suburbs often means a single mother lives and works too far away from where her child attends school. Poorly maintained parks become hotspots for crime, meaning women may not feel safe going there alone. It’s a similar story for entertainment and nightlife districts. Many get developed under the assumption women will go there with male partners, and not unaccompanied.”

What’s more, today’s cities aren’t as inclusive as they can be, even as they become more advanced and high-tech.

“The development process often does not include enough input from disabled people themselves. The people responsible for making city improvements might get feedback from an area’s residents, but there’s no guarantee that the studied segment includes the voices of people with disabilities. For example, a touch-sensitive screen for bus ticket sales might seem high-tech, but can wheelchair users with fine-motor difficulties use it?” Planetizen muses.

The ‘[Bad] Planning’ project has been around for over 6 years. Created in mid-2019, it continues to share photos of some of the most awful things “perpetrated by architects, planners, surveyors, engineers, and other environmental ne’er do wells.”

Currently, 136.5k internet users follow the architecture-shaming account whose curator isn’t afraid of calling things as they see them.

Which of these planning fails annoyed you the most, Pandas? What is the very worst case of urban planning that you’ve personally witnessed?

If you had an unlimited budget and power, what would you change about your neighborhood and town in terms of design? Grab a snack and tell us what you think in the comments.

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So... had laminate flooring laid in the bathroom.. removed the toilet to get the floor laid properly.. a couple of hours later.. the carpet fitter come and laid a new carpet in the next room we come home and I moved the toilet to find this !!!! ...

PlanningSh*t Report

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Designed by Diamond, Redfern & Partners (1966-70), the nine-storey Art School block has been earmarked for potential redevelopment by Wolverhampton University. Behind the striking sculptural concrete ‘exoskeleton’, the building remains in its original use and has abundant potential for sympathetic modernisation. Demolition would be wasteful, irresponsible, and anti-growth. C20 Society has submitted a listing application, and local campaigners have started a petition to save it.

C20Society Report