The Carbuncle Awards were

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

prizes, presented by the Scottish magazine ''

Urban Realm ''Urban Realm'' is a planning magazine published in Scotland, with a focus on Scottish issues. The magazine was established as ''Prospect'' in 1922 by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, and is the oldest architectural magazine i ...

'' (formerly ''Prospect'') to buildings and areas in Scotland intermittently from 2000 until 2015. They were established following a discussion about why policy initiatives to improve the quality of the built environment seemed to be having so little impact beyond the centres of Scotland's key cities. The name of the awards was derived from a comment by

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

(now Charles III), an outspoken critic of modern architecture, who in 1984 described Ahrends Burton Koralek's proposed extension of London's

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

as a "monstrous

carbuncle A carbuncle is a cluster of boils caused by bacterial infection, most commonly with ''Staphylococcus aureus'' or ''Streptococcus pyogenes''. The presence of a carbuncle is a sign that the immune system is active and fighting the infection. The ...

on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend". There were three award categories: *Plook on the Plinth Award "for the most dismal town in Scotland". A "plook" is a Scottish noun for

pimple A pimple or zit is a kind of comedo that results from excess sebum and dead skin cells getting trapped in the pores of the skin. In its aggravated state, it may evolve into a pustule or papule. Pimples can be treated by acne medications, anti ...

. *The Pock Mark Award "for the worst planning decision". *The Zit Building Award "for the worst building completed since the last awards". Public nominations were made via the magazine's website, with a small group of critics selecting the final winners.

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

won the Plook on the Plinth Award twice and was the town most frequently nominated for the award. The Carbuncle Awards inspired the

Carbuncle Cup The Carbuncle Cup is an architecture prize, given annually, originally by the magazine ''Building Design'', and since 2024 by ''The Fence'', to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months". It was intended to be a ...

, another architecture prize launched in 2006 which was given annually by ''

Building Design Building design, also called architectural design, refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licen ...

'' magazine to "the ugliest building in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

completed in the last 12 months". The latter went on to achieve somewhat greater prominence in the media, and was last held in 2018. In 2024,

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

based magazine ''The Fence'' revived the Carbuncle Cup award.

Winners

Plook on the Plinth Award Notes: *The shortlist section includes the towns that were in consideration for the award by ''Urban Realm'' *The 2010 award was passed to runners-up Denny, after original winners John o' Groats refused it *The 2005 judging panel included the artist Richard Demarco and the ''

Sunday Herald The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...

'' associate editor Alan Taylor *The 2011 judging panel included architecture critic Mark Chalmers and ''Urban Realm'' editor John Glenday Cumbernauld Town Centre - geograph

The Zit Building Award

References

{{reflist, 2 British architecture awards Ironic and humorous awards

Winners

See also

References