HH Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So goes the old clich. In the same way, ugliness is also subjective. There is no exact definition of what ugly is but the society agrees to some standards of beauty. The norms dictate that ugliness depends on proportion, balance, and totality. It is a collective idea that there should be balance, proportion, and order before something or someone can be considered beautiful. Without these three elements, beauty wont exist, but rather ugliness. Safe to say, something is ugly if it is out of proportion, has no balance, and without order. Just as you can easily recognize something beautiful, you can also notice with no difficulty something that is not pleasing to the eyes. For a work of art or architecture, the colors should match and complement each other, otherwise they will appear chaotic. Imbalance is also a contributing factor to the ugliness of an object. Without balance, there is no order and harmony which are two of what make something beautiful.

Mark Cousins, in his essay for Portfolio Magazine, stated that Beauty has always been defined as a totality, as a whole, a completeness. He also mentioned that the ugly fails to achieve the totality. True enough, an ugly object lacks something that a beautiful one possesses. No matter how you look at it, an ugly object will always be lackluster. It will catch your attention, definitely, but it isnt just pleasing. Youll notice it simply because you cant help compare it with something beautiful. I saw one building located in the downtown which I regard as an ugly one. Aside from being an old edifice, it wasnt maintained so dirt and vandals are all over the walls. There is just one door, and the windows are too small. Suffice to say, in buildings and architecture designs, poor ventilation is also an ugly thing. As previously mentioned, beauty is totality. Its not just about style and design, its also about comfort and convenience. 

In general, ugliness, like beauty, is subjective. In the same manner that you can easily recognize a beautiful thing, you cant just simply ignore an ugly thing when you see it.