What Are the Carbuncle Awards?

Process

Nominations are received and posted on the Carbuncle awards website. Each town is listed in alphabetical order, along with specific area of the town meriting the award. The reason for the nomination follows along with the nominator's name. Many nominees have a picture posted. The category that elicits the most publicity involves the most dismal town in Scotland.

Nominations for the most dismal town can be serious or can involve humor. For example, the nomination of Ardrossan and its harbor region had the following reason: "Ardrossan is at the end of the line -- literally. The overriding compulsion when standing on the pier is to jump off it." For Dumbarton, the nomination of its Artizan Shopping Centre stated that it had the most unattractive entrance to a town center anywhere. The nominations sometimes include a photograph.

The Carbuncle award for the most dismal town in Scotland is called "Plook on the Plinth Award." In 2010, the five towns that made the finalists level were Lochgelly, Denny in Stirlingshire, which received three separate nominations, East Kilbride, Inverness and John O'Groats. According to "The Courier," Councilor Ian Chisholm of Lochgellywas very upset that his town had been nominated. He blamed architects for the design of the buildings in his town, and said that they should have been nominated. Councilor Chisholm further stated that an American architect was being brought in to rehabilitate the town's buildings.

John O'Groats took home the Carbuncle in 2010 for Scotland's most dismal town, but according to BBC news, no one from the town would claim the award. Its master plan was nominated with the reasoning that it has a diabolical circular ring of asphalt set to smother mainland Britain's northernmost outpost. When the winner is unable to accept the award, the runner-up can claim the prize. So Denny, the second-place town, approached the organizers upon accepting the "Plook on the Plinth." A group in Denny called Walk Around the Block stepped forward and claimed the award in the hope that the publicity will spur redevelopment in their town.