By Brittany Anas / NewsBreak Denver
(Denver, Colo) Denver International Airport’s iconic tented peaks recently landed on a global list of “public eyesores.”
UK-based building supply website Buildworld identified design-themed tweets about buildings on Twitter and then used a sentiment analysis tool to analyze the percentage of tweets about each building’s design to determine how many were negative.
DIA ranked No. 5 on “The Top 10 Eyesore Buildings in the U.S.,” right in between the glitzy gold Trump Tower in Las Vegas and the curved exteriors of the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C. It also ranked No. 10 on the company’s list of “The Ugliest Buildings in the World.”
So, how did DIA officials respond to the architectural slam?
Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and the airport took the high road—considering they could have gotten the Blue Mustang with beady red eyes (i.e., Blucifer) involved.
Instead, DEN simply Tweeted a photo of the airport’s iconic tents under a fiery orange sky. The caption says: “This one goes out to the haters” and employs a kissy-face emoji and the hashtag #hatersgonnahate.
Opened in 1995, DIA’s recognizable roof consists of 21 tents spread over two layers. Some say the tented roofs mimic the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains, others say they drew inspiration from Native American teepees. DIA throws out a couple more ideas: Billowing thunderheads and canvas-covered wagons toiling westward over the Great Plains.
“The tents symbolize inspiration and achievement and have become one of the most recognizable architectural landmarks in the State of Colorado,” the airport says.
The tents are made with white Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric suspended from pylons and tensioned with cables and buckles. The Teflon material is also used to make superdomes. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the tents have stood up to some adverse weather conditions over the decades, including blizzards, hail and high-speed wind. Of course, there's rainbows, too.
What do you think: Is DIA’s Jeppesen Terminal a thing of beauty or a public eyesore?
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