Monuments That Make You Go “What Were They Thinking?!”

Welcome to the "ballroom" – where style went on holiday. What even is this thing?

Glasgow Tower: the world’s tallest spinning disappointment. Costs a fortune, never works, sometimes bursts into flames. Talk about a dud!

The Headington Shark in Oxford. A local DJ just plopped a giant shark into a roof, sans permission. Chaos ensued for 20 years, but now it’s apparently a "landmark." Somehow.

Behold the mystery structure that leaves everyone asking: What even is that?

This building in Vancouver looks like a strong gust of wind could topple it. Personal fave for “What’s going on here?”

Thanks, but no thanks. The perfect monument to make you cringe instantly.

They meant for this to be Santa Claus. We'll let you decide if it nailed the vibe.

Our beloved... uh, monument? You be the judge.

A town spent 10k on this fountain thing. It barely works, became a meme, and now people actually visit just to laugh at how tiny it is.

Warning: this statue is pure nightmare fuel. Proceed with caution!

Remember the infamous Ecce Homo restoration? Yeah... this is it. Needs no further introduction.

Surprisingly, this Aussie monument actually gets a thumbs up for being pretty cool. So it’s not all bad!

Here’s an 11.5 meter tall monstrosity in Stange, paid for with taxpayer dollars. Yep, that happened.

The Marge Simpson building. Yes, it looks exactly like it sounds.

Roundabout of the Peacocks in Jaén. Elegant? Not so much.

Shemyakin's Peter the Great statue has proportions straight out of a wild manga. It’s confusing, and that’s putting it nicely.

In São Paulo, someone slapped a whale sculpture on a building, then topped it with a Christmas hat that somehow looks... suspicious.

This thing cost over 100,000 euros. It’s "supposed" to shoot a red beam into the sky, but spoiler: it basically never does.

A Treetop Walk without any trees. Because who needs that?

This building shaped like a giant fish in Hyderabad. Fishy vibes all around.

In Tennessee, there's a shiny fiberglass statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest that has locals feeling all kinds of ways.

A 516ft wide emoji. Because why settle for small expressions?

Meet "O punhetão," or as we like to call it: the wankerer. A real crowd-pleaser in Goiania.

Here’s a "beautiful" art installation in Lithuania’s capital. Your mileage may vary.

The Boll Weevil Monument in Alabama: a woman holding a traffic cone with a bug on top. Yes, really. A monument to a pesky cotton-eating bug.

This monstrosity will haunt your dreams. You’ve been warned.

People flock here to hear this “historic landmark” whistle and steam. A top tourist attraction in Vancouver, apparently.

We built a 70 ft statue of Lionel Messi that cost millions. Meanwhile, the national football team keeps struggling because of corruption and no budget. Oops.

For Szczecin, it’s the Fryga statue. If you ask us, it should probably go.

Niagara Falls is packed with bizarre statues. Exhibit A: Frankenstein attacking Burger King. You can’t make this stuff up.

Buenos Aires’ Egg Monument: it’s literally an egg. Don’t ask, just try not to imagine it rolling down the street.

The War of Independence victory column in Estonia looks better from far away. Up close? Not so much. Plus, it’s a bit fragile.

The Big Nickel in Sudbury: giant, shiny, and impossible to miss.

Wrocław’s Iglica: a communist-era spike made to celebrate regaining land. A sharp poke in your eye, literally.

Stone Mountain in Georgia shows us a Confederate monument that’s as controversial as it is ugly.

Seattle’s Lenin statue: rescued from a scrapyard, now a neighborhood landmark. Less creepy and more quirky?

Feast your eyes on this weird German monstrosity. No one’s quite sure what it’s supposed to be.

Roundabout of the tuna. Yep, that’s really a thing.

This absolute beast in Queens, New York, makes you wonder what the architect was thinking.

Our city’s got tons of quirky local art - locally famous but nobody else cares much.

Sterling Heights, Michigan’s $335,000 "Golden Hole". Yep, it’s just a golden hole.

Boston’s "Embrace" sculpture from 2022 is a real head-scratcher. Love it or hate it?

iykyk (if you know, you know). This one’s an inside joke.

This is the Buffalo City Court building in Buffalo, New York. If buildings had personalities, this one’s awkward at best.

This dumb ring in Montreal swallowed 5 million dollars of tax money. Fancy that.

Hate this one SO much, it’s a masterpiece of meh.

La Estela de Luz in Mexico City, nicknamed "la Suavicrema" after a wafer cookie. Tall, weird, and unforgettable.

The ultimate in pointless spending for a third-world country. You can’t unsee it.

Not the worst here, but this residential building looks like a washing machine’s nightmare. Why?

Okay, the Bude tunnel is actually kind of magnificent. But it’s still on this list, because why not?

Mount Rushmore - seriously, why tho? It’s gigantic and weird all at once.

This electronic art piece in a Toronto subway station has been not working for eight years. That’s some commitment to not working.

Cloudgate aka the Chicago Bean looks cool, but it sure causes a lot of debate. Art or giant shiny bean?

People kept posting statues of hated folks, so here’s one that thankfully got destroyed. Bye-bye!