Brutalism - yay or nay?

[VetLegion]

So is Brutalism = Concrete?

Unpainted and unplastered concrete can look quite good. I would
not say that it's neccessarily ugly. Having an entire city built out
of concrete is indeed ugly (unlike, say, having an entire city built
out of stone, wood or brick). The reason many cities in Russia look
gray, despairing and ugly is that they consist of concrete blocks.

If most of the rest of the city is sound (like, say, London ) then
experiments can be tolerated, including a concrete monstrosity here
and there.

[Kuciwalker]

Here's an example of brutalism in Washington, D.C. Third Church of Christ Scientist. The Christian Scientists have wanted to tear this damn thing down for years.

The problem with obliterating these abominations is that you have a number of people on architectural boards who will fight for keeping examples of notable architecture styles, even if the building is an abomination.

I like that building.

[Kuciwalker]

Brutalism at CMU:

[The Mad Monk]

Why is it called brutalism?

[Kontiki]

Meh, I'm not a big fan of brutalism in general, but there are some decent examples, Habitat in Montreal being one. The problem that I think most people have with the style (including myself) is the tendency to have huge, windowless spaces that just make the buildings look like bunkers.

[OzzyKP]

On second thought, it's not a totally unmitigated NAY. There is one example of brutalist architecture in Washington that I like -- Metrorail.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...university.jpg

Ah, good point. I never think of metro as brutalist, but yea, it totally is. Downtown Rockville has tons of ugly, brutalist buildings, it is horrible and depressing.

[MOBIUS]

We have brutalist bird boxes here in Cardiff!

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/user-36/AnimalWall4.jpg

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/user-36/AnimalWall5.jpg

http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/user-36/AnimalWall6.jpg

Cardiff's bird and bat condo complex

Beat that!

[DRoseDARs]

I'd like to brutally kill whoever keeps spawning you.

[Q Classic]

I'm not a huge fan of it, but.

[Nostromo]

Why is it called brutalism?

From Wiki:

The English architects Alison and Peter Smithson coined the term in 1953, from the French béton brut, or "raw concrete," a phrase used by Le Corbusier to describe the poured board-marked concrete with which he constructed many of his post-WWII buildings. The term gained wide currency when the British architectural critic Reyner Banham used it in the title of his 1966 book, The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic?, to characterize a by then established cluster of architectural approaches, particularly in Europe.

[Nostromo]

AFAIK, no vines are possible.

Yes, they are. My friend's house in Boucherville (a suburb of Montreal) is covered. It looks nice, but its a pain in the ass, its crawling with bugs.

[KrazyHorse]

I stand corrected. I don't remember any back home. Many many more further south...

[Cort Haus]

The Hayward Gallery on the South Bank looks interesting here



but a bit bleaker here




Weldon library Ontario - nice curves



Trellick Tower, West London - a notorious residential tower block now considered iconic. Looks like a Hogarth engraving here



The Hemeroscopium House, Madrid - wildly eccentric

[Barnabas]

Banco de Londres (London Bank) Buenos Aires

[Cort Haus]

San Diego's Qualcomm stadium - hard on the eyes imo



Mairie d'Ivry district in Paris, and it's mental. Almost medieval with its overhangs and gables





FakeLondon, Ontario again - the court house . This has been called Brutalist, but just looks neat and tidy to me. Conveys austere power, as such a building should.



And back to the Barbican, which started all this on another thread. Complete with a bit of Roman Wall.