We asked you to share the most mundane, brilliantly boring, delightfully dull objects from your city, after Rory Hyde defended their value. We received lots of great submissions, and tallied them up to find out which are the top 10 boring city objects, as chosen by you.
10. Newspaper boxes
In tenth place, newspaper vending boxes get their mundane moment in the spotlight.
newspaper vending
a common sight in USA cities these vending machines add some colour to their environment
9. Manhole covers
Sometimes these dull parts of the city beneath our feet surprise us, as this example from Budapest and these colourful manhole covers from Japan demonstrate.
Manhole cover, Budapest
This one belongs to the water authority, and is in a relaid street. It is obviously utilitarian, but has enough character to make it stand out. Apologies that I failed to notice the poison-stick near the Cs of Csatornázási.
8. Benches
Boring benches are in at number 8. So boring you should sit on them.
new seats
New benches in Bournemouth as part of a revamp of the area near Horseshoe Common
7. Bins
These bins happen to be quite fun, but rubbish must be pretty boring as bins are your 7th most boring city object.
Rainbow bins.
Germany.
6. Phone boxes
... and then the mobile arrived, and phone boxes started to die a dull urban death.
Phone Box
These ones are the worst!
5. Cranes
We see a fair few of these in cities packed with new developments, so the construction crane has now become a boring city staple.
Construction side
Man working on the construction side in Poznan, Poland
4. Bollards
In at number 4 is the humble street bollard. This one has been attacked with stickers to liven it up.
"Stuck up Bollard"
This bollard, close to an art gallery, appears to be a favourite place to leave your entry sticker when you leave!
3. Post boxes
We saw a lot of beautiful post boxes in your submissions, like this one below, from Edinburgh. Not quite so boring, then.
Victorian Post Box
In Edinburgh Canongate, next to the now closed Holyrood Post Office.
2. Air vents
Keeping cool at number 2, it’s those ubiquitous air vents and air conditioning units. Here’s a swarm of them in New York.
Air conditioned
Brooklyn Heights apartment building with its many AC units.
1. Lamp-posts
Your number one favourite boring city object is ... the lamp-post! Here’s a wonderfully dull one from Berlin.
Streetlights in Berlin
Have a more subtle appearance than those in the UK
Are there other urban objects so boring they deserve to be on the list? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
