Beautiful ... or ugly? In China, it's in the eye of the beholder

CNN ranks Shenyang's Fangyuan Mansion, which looks like an ancient Chinese coin, among the world's 'ugliest buildings'. Zhao Jingdong / China Daily

Some love it. Some hate it. Most do both or fall in between. The modern building that looks like an ancient Chinese coin in Liaoning province's capital Shenyang rises as a symbol of the scope of sentiments about the phenomenon it epitomizes－the proliferation of China's odd architecture.

Some love it. Some hate it. Most do both or fall in between. The modern building that looks like an ancient Chinese coin in Liaoning province's capital Shenyang rises as a symbol of the scope of sentiments about the phenomenon it epitomizes－the proliferation of China's odd architecture.

"Every coin has two sides. This one is no exception," says Wang Zheng, who lives near Fangyuan Mansion. "Some think it's hideous. I think it's fanciful."

CNN ranked it among the world's "ugliest buildings". The structure－also known as the Square and Circle Mansion－was envisioned by its Taiwan designer C.Y. Lee & Partners to convey the city's financial aspirations.

Shenyang native Wang Huan believes "it's too direct. It's hard for people to read anything from it but money. It's a declaration－nothing more."

Yet he sees its upside, too. "It has a wow factor," he says. "It's susceptible to aesthetic criticism but never fails to shock."

The controversy may indulge designers and tenets. "Taste matters less than publicity to the many multinational companies that rent space," local architect Zhang Haotian explains.

The 27-year-old says he has grown accustomed to the building's quirkiness and unabashedly commercialist message. "To read the CNN review is like listening to a stranger babble about your neighbor," he says.