Ugliness and Judgment: On Architecture in the Public Eye

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By Timothy Hyde *96

Published March 6, 2019

Certain buildings have always garnered criticism for being unseemly or ugly. Ugliness and Judgment (Princeton University Press) reflects on how perceptions about aesthetics originating in architecture can reach beyond mere individual opinion into broader conversations — such as whether purposefully ugly buildings can be libelous or illegal.

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The February 2026 cover of PAW, featuring a photo of Joseph Nye.
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