
Learning to Love Brutalist Architecture - Thevet
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/artists/why-we-must-learn-to-love-brutalist-architecture/
======
Spooky23
To me, it represents the point where glorification of the lead architect
became more important than the function of the building or practice of
architecture. So you get monumental architecture that in addition to being
horrifically ugly, is usually non-functional and doesn't wear well, with lots
of flat roofing and poor planning for water displacement.

In my city, we have an old high school built in 1905 whose interior was
refurbished and remains in service as part of a university. The replacement
high school, built in the 70s, is a brutalist dump infested with mold and
falling apart. The 1970 building will be torn down at great expense soon,
while the 1905 building has a good chance of still being in use in some form
100 years from now.

~~~
jonahx
Some of it is ugly, but some of it has an incredible stark beauty.

~~~
carsongross
That beauty is usually abstract, and brutalist buildings, unless they are very
deftly placed, typically destroy the civic and aesthetic fabric they are
located in. Yes, they can appeal intellectually to the high-minded modernist,
but the guy simply trying to find the entrance for a decent cup of coffee's
life is ruined on that account.

The problem with modern architecture is that it requires a genius to pull off,
and the vast majority of architects, and I would say projects _by geniuses_ ,
do not even come close.

------
JonnieCache
Check out this blog for lots of fun pictures of that kind of thing:
[http://architectureofdoom.tumblr.com](http://architectureofdoom.tumblr.com)

The feeling that you're actually browsing someones collection of atonal german
techno records is inescapable.

~~~
mapleoin
I think there's a very big difference between Brutalist architecture as
practiced by the architects in that movement and soviet architecture whose
main objective was to be cheap and fast to build (and maybe sprinkle in some
propaganda).

~~~
silversmith
There is an old soviet movie whose intro sums up how the brutalist
architecture was adapted by the regime -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9W0GCvPz4E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9W0GCvPz4E)

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fiatpandas
PSA: use of concrete != brutalist. The articles makes it confusing for someone
not familiar with the distinction, because the author flips back and forth
between discussing the use of concrete in architecture and discussing
brutalist buildings.

E.g. the kitchen (and the house it is in), the shop, and the bridges in the
article are not at all brutalist.

~~~
mseebach
I'm pretty sure the style is called "industrial chic".

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fgp
Move to any major Brazilian city and you will learn to hate it. The sheer
amount of brutalist buildings just ruins every skyline in the country. When I
go to big cities abroad, I really feel in a totally different world

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coldcode
When I saw this headline I thought it was about software architecture. A lot
of what I see could be described as brutal.

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rayiner
The practical problem is that concrete gets gross. I work in the Watergate,
which is a mostly concrete crime against humanity from a slightly later era,
and it's gross close-up. It looks in far worse shape than turn of the century
masonry buildings around the country.

~~~
tvanantwerp
I lived near the Watergate one summer as an intern and would shop at that
awful little Safeway on the lower level. I was expecting the Watergate to be
so much more, given its historical significance/infamy. Nope. Hideous.

------
tdsamardzhiev
"Brutalist architecture" looks to me a lot like every other building here in
Warsaw Pact countries.

~~~
noir_lord
Can see the similarity but "built mostly with unfinished concrete" !=
Brutalism.

It has a defined style, my absolute favourite is The Barbican Estate in London

[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/London_b...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/London_barbican_18.JPG)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbican_Estate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbican_Estate)

When done without style it's horribly oppressive though but I don't think any
less oppressive than the nasty steel and glass monoliths going up everywhere.

Also I love concrete, when done using high grade materials and polished it
leaves a lovely finish approaching marble.

I'd quite like to use it as a material for furniture but for the weight
problems.

~~~
cannam
I love the Barbican as well. These big concrete cliffs and plains remind me of
the countryside in some remoter bits of the UK.

It's telling though that so few people go there. To walk east from Barbican
tube station, you can either go along Beech St (through the tunnel built for
motor traffic under the Barbican) or over a footbridge and across the Barbican
itself, which is quieter and has better air and doesn't involve waiting to
cross any roads. The latter seems the obvious thing to do, but at rush hour
the tunnel is busy with pedestrians, while the Barbican pedestrian level is
almost empty.

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ebbv
Nope. Most Brutalism still looks ugly and unfinished. Yeah it's cool that
concrete can be made into all kinds of shapes, but I'd argue while Brutalist
forms may be technically difficult they are not particularly aesthetically
pleasing over the long term.

I think a lot of this Brutalist revival comes from people who don't live with
these buildings (not all but I think a majority.) Brutalist buildings are
impressive and even bracing when you first see them, but if you are in a
position to see them every day, that's when they become drab, dull and even an
ugly.

There's a reason they developed that reputation over time, and only now when a
generation of people who aren't familiar with them and don't live with them
finally rediscover these buildings they are the ones who like them. Tell me
you still love them if you actually live with them every day and don't just
look at it on a desktop, then I might buy that this is more than a retro-
nostalgia driven fad.

~~~
i80and
I'll bite: Williamson Hall at the University of Minnesota is by far one of my
favorite buildings, but has a very brutalist chic.

------
furyg3
Went out to Radio Kootwijk in NL last weekend, really cool space...
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Kootwijk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Kootwijk)

~~~
teh_klev
I'd say that building has more of an industrial Art Deco vibe to it than
Brutalist. Have a look at Battersea Power Station and you'll see what I mean:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea_Power_Station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea_Power_Station)

------
guard-of-terra
Can we please instead unlearn XX century?

Build like this again:

[http://nesiditsa.ru/wp-
content/uploads/2012/09/228.jpg](http://nesiditsa.ru/wp-
content/uploads/2012/09/228.jpg)

3-6 floors, organized in blocks, one after anothers, with lot of nice details.

I fail to grasp why architects still propose those hideous buildings nobody
want to live near? All kinds of glass blocks? Displayed out of context because
they stick out surroundings.

~~~
guard-of-terra
While Brutalist tend to be ugly, there's Constructivism which introduced most
of Brutalist upsides without downsides.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivist_architecture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivist_architecture)

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gottebp
There's a wonderful BBC documentary about how we ended up in this mess and the
vitality of beauty in our everyday lives. If you've never had the pleasure,
you'll need about an hour, and you will find yourself thinking about it for
years to come: "Why Beauty Matters"
[https://vimeo.com/112655231](https://vimeo.com/112655231)

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cwmma
You know one of the big problems with brutalist isn't necessarily the
architecture itself as opposed to how it it weathers in some climates like
either England (new or old). I remember seeing some brutalist buildings in
Washington DC and being like 'wow those don't look like shit' so used to
seeing Boston city hall and Alewife station, which do.

~~~
yiyus
I get your point, but I would argue that making the building with the right
materials for a given environment is part of the architecture itself.

------
carsongross
For those of you inclined to disagree with the idea of learning to love
obviously ugly buildings, I would like to recommend two books:

[http://www.amazon.com/The-Geography-Nowhere-Americas-
Landsca...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Geography-Nowhere-Americas-
Landscape/dp/0671888250)

[http://www.amazon.com/Bauhaus-Our-House-Tom-
Wolfe/dp/0312429...](http://www.amazon.com/Bauhaus-Our-House-Tom-
Wolfe/dp/0312429142/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454427093&sr=1-1&keywords=from+bauhaus+to+our+house)

Kunstler is a bit of a crank, but his analysis of the problems with modern
architecture and urbanism are very good. Wolfe, of course, is a genius, and
his very short book is a fantastic and deeply funny (if depressing) read.

------
acjohnson55
There was a great episode of the fantastic podcast, 99 Percent Invisible, on
brutalist architecture: [http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/hard-to-love-a-
brute/](http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/hard-to-love-a-brute/)

------
jefurii
Not brutalist but since we're talking concrete... I've long been a fan of
Japanese architect Tadao Ando[0].

A lot of brutalist buildings are imposing blocky structures but Ando's
buildings are poetry in concrete. The looming mass of negative space in the
Chikatsu Asuka Museum[1] is one of the spookiest and most awesome
architectural experiences I've had (it's dedicated to ancient tombs in the
area). I used to love hanging out at Galleria Akka[2] and I treasure the
afternoon I spent at the Church of Light[3].

For me a defining feature of Japanese aesthetics is appreciation of the
materials from which a thing is made (there's a word for it but I've
forgotten). A wooden spoon should not hide the fact that is made of wood. A
clay tea bowl should celebrate its "clay-ness" rather than try to cover itself
with glazing, unless the point is to celebrate the materiality of the glaze.
(This aesthetic is the exact opposite of skuemorphism.) Ando applied this
concept to concrete. In some of his buildings the concrete is rough and you
can see the stones embedded in it; in other buildings it is smooth as glass.

All that said, I've heard from architects and occupants that his buildings
leak like sieves. They're mostly not practical buildings. They're intended to
make a visual statement.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadao_Ando](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadao_Ando)
[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka_Prefectural_Chikatsu_Asu...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka_Prefectural_Chikatsu_Asuka_Museum)
[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Galleria_%EF%BD%81%EF%BD%...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Galleria_%EF%BD%81%EF%BD%8B%EF%BD%8B%EF%BD%81.JPG)
[3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Light)

Update: edited for formatting (why can't HN just use Markdown or
RestructuredText??)

------
legulere
The reason why many find/found it ugly is that it's cheap. There's a long
history of expensive things defining whats beautiful in architecture.

The typical red of Swedish houses is imitating brick houses:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falu_red](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falu_red)

Timber framing houses were often directly built with a stone facade. Only
nowadays we have learned to love timber framing houses.

------
martijn_himself
The Brutalist style is strangely beautiful when integrated with Classical
architecture (see, for example, the _Ulster Museum_ ).

It is however just a shell and the spaces inside should be bright, inviting,
functional and a joy to live in- that's what I find most important about
architecture (and I am just a layman).

~~~
notahacker
It's a matter of personal taste. I'd say the brutalist style is at its _worst_
when juxtaposed with more traditional styles, and at its best when completely
alone in the landscape where its unusual proportions are less jarring, and the
bare concrete looks earthy rather than _dirty_

At least the Ulster Museum architect - whose creation looks like it's in the
process of devouring the older building - seems to have had a sense of humour.

~~~
guard-of-terra
If you get to be alone in the landscape, it means the landscape is unwalkable,
which is no go.

------
maxsilver
I know it's common to hate on it, but I actually love a lot of Brutalist
Architecture. It shows a strong commitment to infrastructure that I rarely see
today.

Plus, a number of the examples just look very genuinely nice to be around (the
Spaghetti Junction, Brunswick Centre, and Zog House in the article all look
great)

------
mseebach
One of the reasons brutalism is ugly, is that the movement more or less
explicitly rejects aesthetics -- or rather, given the movement's alignment
with socialism, it rejects bourgeois notions of aesthetics.

~~~
restalis
Yes, it was a part of the social leveling plan. It was a hard challenge from
the architects' part in finding ways to infiltrate at least some sorts of
aesthetics into the politically highly sought plainness and dullness.

------
mvista
The empire and first order environs are heavily inspired by brutalist
architecture.

------
at-fates-hands
If anybody is interested in more Brutalism architecture, I would recommend
DeZeen's collection of articles on the subject matter, you'll get a much
broader view and interpretation of this style:

The Dezeen guide to Brutalist architecture:
[http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/10/dezeen-guide-to-
brutalist-a...](http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/10/dezeen-guide-to-brutalist-
architecture-owen-hopkins/)

Architects pick their favourite Brutalist buildings:
[http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/19/architects-favourite-
brutal...](http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/19/architects-favourite-brutalist-
buildings/)

11 lesser-known Brutalist buildings that helped define the movement:
[http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/14/fuckyeahbrutalism-
top-11-br...](http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/14/fuckyeahbrutalism-
top-11-brutalist-buildings/)

Brutalist buildings: National Theatre, London by Denys Lasdun:
[http://www.dezeen.com/2014/10/06/brutalist-buildings-
nationa...](http://www.dezeen.com/2014/10/06/brutalist-buildings-national-
theatre-london-denys-lasdun/)

Brutalist buildings: Prentice Women's Hospital, Chicago by Bertrand Goldberg &
Associates: [http://www.dezeen.com/2014/10/02/prentice-womens-hospital-
ch...](http://www.dezeen.com/2014/10/02/prentice-womens-hospital-chicago-by-
bertrand-goldberg-associates-brutalism/)

Brutalist buildings: Yale Art and Architecture Building, Connecticut by Paul
Rudolph: [http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/26/yale-art-and-
architecture-b...](http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/26/yale-art-and-architecture-
building-paul-rudolph-brutalism/)

Brutalist buildings: Pilgrimage Church, Neviges by Gottfried Böhm:
[http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/17/brutalist-buildings-
pilgrim...](http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/17/brutalist-buildings-pilgrimage-
church-neviges-by-gottfried-bohm/)

Brutalist buildings: Habitat 67, Montreal by Moshe Safdie:
[http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/11/brutalist-buildings-
habitat...](http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/11/brutalist-buildings-
habitat-67-montreal-moshe-safdie/)

The Yale Architecture building is amazing and one of my favorites.

------
ocschwar
Like learning to love an abusive spouse.

------
AnimalMuppet
Must? _Must???_

Ugly is ugly. No, I don't need to learn to love it.

~~~
dang
I suspect the title was meant a brutalist play itself, but we've mollified it
for you.

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yuiyui
How about we just admit that it's horrible, tear down all those monstrosities
and go back to nice classical European buildings like we used to?

