You may have missed the Ixcelles exhibit that closed last weekend, but it’s never too late to plan a visit to Belgium’s ‘ugly houses,’ thanks to Hannes Coudenys, who’s spent ten years collecting and posting them on Instagram.
Coudenys began his project at a period when, he says, he was “pissed off at Belgium” and quick to notice rows of ugly houses as he rode to work each day. He started posting the pictures online, and now has 165,000 followers who keep him busy spotting more houses and sending them in.
He told the Brussels Times that “I couldn’t have known what effect that would have. Every day I get about two pictures sent to me and it’s now become way bigger than me.” He also says he no longer hates the houses he posts: “I love the ugliness and I think it’s a lot better than other more boring countries.”
There’s more to see at his Facebook page.
This reminds me of a friend who was on the design review board in the historic district of Bisbee, Arizona who told me people should be allowed to have bad taste. Then, years later, while planning an addition to my house in Bisbee, was told by a member of the same board that the house was already weird so he had no objection to the weird addition.