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Brutalist Buildings in Your Region
Edited and links updated 12/29/2010:
Brutalism: Sculptural, geometric, massive urban playgrounds made of concrete, places where skateboarding would be a blast (and probably banned), or smaller-scale exercises in form and space. Since brutalism's heyday in the 1960's and 1970's, Pittsburgh has seen a rich variety of brutalist structures go up, and I'm interested in how many buildings of this type exist in other cities, especially new projects. Please post images of your favorites (or least favorites). I'll get the ball rolling with my school: Carnegie Mellon University: Wean Hall http://www.samizdata.net/~pdeh/20050...dsc00611sm.jpg photo credit http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archiv...to_differ.html University of Pittsburgh: Barco Law Building http://www.essential-architecture.co...ding_thumb.jpg Photo Credit http://www.essential-architecture.co...E/STY-M11A.htm University of Pittsburgh: Posvar Hall http://www.tour.pitt.edu/images/bigp...ur-040-big.jpg photo credit http://www.tour.pitt.edu/tour-040-photo.html University of Pittsburgh: Hillman Library http://www.tour.pitt.edu/images/bigp...ur-075-big.jpg photo credit http://www.tour.pitt.edu/tour-firstmap.html University of Pittsburgh: David L. Lawrence Hall http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...wrenceHall.jpg Photo Credithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DavidLawrenceHall.jpg |
Unfortunately, the University of Pittsburgh essentially doubled in size almost overnight after it went from private to "state-related" in 1966... which just so happened to be the beginning of the short-lived brutalist movement... ushering in a wave of cold, inhuman brutalist structures within Pitt's previously elegant campus... the whole Forbes Quadrangle is a lifeless harsh dismal zone of blank concrete
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And who can forget the notorious Boston City Hall? The epitomy of good intentions gone wrong.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...onCityhall.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...onCityhall.jpg |
Just about the most depressing form of architecture ever conceived.
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Not sure if this qualifies as a legitimate example of the style, but I have always liked 55 West Wacker here in Chicago:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3046/...a5713c2978.jpg Mark 2400-flickr http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3168/...7ae6e6.jpg?v=0 Mark 2400-flickr http://farm1.static.flickr.com/203/5...4c3ffa20c6.jpg 24gotham-flickr Some of my own photos: http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1...3090701is6.jpg http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5...3100468nq2.jpg |
^ 55 W Wacker would be so much nicer with transparent glazing.
It seems like most forms of progressive architecture undergo a period of popular contempt and derision that gradually gives way to enjoyment, even adoration. Sometimes it's a matter of familiarity, but more often I think it's a new context created by newer styles. I think anti-Brutalist sentiment, of which there is no shortage even among enthusiasts of Modernism, is a perfect example. In fifty years, when new technologies become more widely adopted and give birth to forms we have only previewed or yet unseen, popular opinion will swing towards Brutalism. |
I'm never exactly sure how to differentiate Brutalism from simple Modernism, most of the time, but I think the Michigan Capitol Complex in Lansing is an example of Brutalism:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/...bdbd616e_o.jpg |
How about pretty much all of SUNY Albany?
http://www.albany.edu/chemistry/nerfi/albany06.jpg The campus looks pretty good during the summer and sunny days. But it's unbelievably drab and depressing on a snowy or cloudy day. My brother happened to be visiting it on one of these drab days after some snowfall - the school was offering him a boatload of shit besides a full scholarship, but I knew he wasn't going there after seeing how dreary the campus looked. |
The Landstadt Building in Malmö is the kind that has its "guts on the outside"..
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...berg_karin.JPG |
^ I like it, it's so different, It wouldn't be nice if the whole city were filled with it, but I think it fits when buildt in small numbers.
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Ex London Bank, Buenos Aires, Argentina, built by the architect Clorindo Testa
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/...d594d01939.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2345/...e2763621ed.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1395/...0bf0d1872c.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1178/...28b990ec68.jpg I like it.. I think it has beautiful details |
Double.
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^Wow, that is quite fantastic.
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I also agree that Brutalism will improve with age, and mostly for the reasons you stated. |
McMaster Health Sciences Centre, Hamilton, Ontario.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ster/pano2.jpg from http://www.aia.org/nwsltr_print.cfm?...0051019_change Quote:
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I dont think there are any examples of it where I live and im glad for that.
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Ex London Bank, Buenos Aires, Argentina has amazing detail and I can't even grasp the shear scale of the Barbican Centre. It's also interesting to note how the McMaster Health Sciences Centre merges two strikingly different materials, glass and concrete.
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Amazing thread. I didn't realize London has so many Brutalistic buildings.
Seeing Forbes Quadrangle reminded me of its sheer enormity. I think I read once that its the largest educational use building based on square footage. |
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London's got loads, and they're mostly terrible. Thankfully about 4-500 highrise apartment blocks in brutalist stylee have since been bulldozed since the 1960's, when they were all the rage.
They weren't nice brutale if you know what I mean but cheap, rain stained, dangerous brutale housing thousands in crime ridden conditions. These are some survivors, London's worst areas: Quote:
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Toronto's got a few 'brutes'....Robarts Library at the University of Toronto is probably the best/worst example....this flickr pic by lumina93...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/...999fdd07_b.jpg |
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How did any of this stuff ever get built? Simply terrible. |
http://tomforst.com/StateCaps/Arizona/Az07209.jpg
The Arizona state Capitol Executive Tower is pretty brutal and awful. Not my photo though, I found it via googling on Tomforst.com |
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http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/696/112qj8.jpg |
Those concrete row homes in London are dope.
Some weird hospital in Chicago (my photo): http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7...5768085zk0.jpg Love this thing. |
Some brutalism from the 70's: University of Alberta Hospital
http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/denti...es/dental1.jpg Source: University of Alberta website. http://www.dent.ualberta.ca/gpr.cfm |
Fiorello Laguardia HS, NYC
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1169/...68c85b8c_b.jpg Cleveland State University http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2205/...b6b69c.jpg?v=0 Dallas City Hall http://farm1.static.flickr.com/201/4...0f585f.jpg?v=0 Stephen P. Clark Government Center, Miami http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...mentcenter.jpg photo credits: flickr |
One of the better examples of academic campus Brutalism
Humanities Building - University of Wisconsin-Madison 1969, Harry Weese and Associates http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/3379/dsc00104zf2.jpg http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/2618/dsc00105cm7.jpg http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/339/dsc00107gf3.jpg http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/6305/dsc00108cb0.jpg http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/369/dsc00110hp6.jpg http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/6520/dsc00111kg4.jpg http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/3258/dsc00127ic2.jpg http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/5584/dsc00133vf8.jpg http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/3479/dsc00130vj3.jpg http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9339/dsc00137om6.jpg http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/1307/dsc00139jg9.jpg http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/972/dsc00142ek0.jpg |
Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library
http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/...distant(5).jpg
It grows on me every time I see it. Still, it is a giant block of concrete. |
Great thread. I'm a big fan of brutalism - when it's well done. Like any other style there are good and bad examples. A great example is Barbican IMO, I think it's fantastic.
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I work in this brutalist ooglie in London (Ontario). The Social Science Centre, University of Western Ontario.
http://psychology.uwo.ca/images/ssc-spring.jpg source: UWO |
Some lovely stuff in here - and some less lovely stuff as well.
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There's not a ton of this...stuff...around here, and frankly I don't want to give it any acknowledgement by posting photos of it. I have never seen a brutalist structure that wasn't horrible in at least some ways, and usually in all of them.
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^ Fort Worth and Dallas actually have quite a bit of this "stuff"... unfortunately. Since this is a thread for crappy brutalist architecture, I gotta post some of the highlights... sorry.
Fort Worth's got a gem of a Brtualist city hall: http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/municipl.jpg and the city's tallest building is one helluva Brutalist monstrosity: http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/burnett4.jpg and who could forget the beautiful Texas Workforce Commission: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2194/...5f212899_o.jpg photo credit: flickr |
nice shot of the depressing interior of Posvar Hall.. the worst aspect of my University of Pittsburgh education was having to spend every waking moment inside this abomination...
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/scenc...cs/Posvar1.jpg |
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Just because it exists doesn't mean we have to give it any sort of acknowledgement. It's better to let everybody forget about brutalism and then wipe it clean off the face of the Earth, and issue a proclamation that it shall never be constructed again. |
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A common style in Paris
Mairie d'Ivry district http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/DSC01622.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/DSC01625.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/DSC01627.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/DSC01631.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/DSC01636.jpg Saint Denis Basilique district http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/DSC02009.jpg http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/DSC02013.jpg |
Another Harry Weiss, but a more refined and evolved Brutalist style:
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/4...4686376jj5.jpg |
wow, this is fantastic. This gives brutalism a good name.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/DSC01622.jpg |
No kidding. Brutralism looks awesome with overgrowth.
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There's a really gorgeous example of brutalism in Oslo, some govt building. Anyone know its name?
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/79/22...cf6f92.jpg?v=0 http://farm1.static.flickr.com/169/4...408cdb.jpg?v=0 I think the frieze is by Piccasso. It's the tower behind that is perfectly composed, can't get a shot of its form though. |
Massena fire station in Paris
http://fr.structurae.de/files/photos...pompiers_7.jpg http://fr.structurae.de/files/photos...pompiers_2.jpg |
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Ontario_1.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Ontario_1.jpg I'm surprised you didn't mention London, Ontario's notorious example, the court house: http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ndon/00205.jpg |
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ll_bastion.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...side-large.jpg http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/8...arbicandv6.jpg |
Brutalism in Salt Lake City
LDS Church Office Building
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/63...ea756973_b.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/63...ea756973_b.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/3...14bcdcdca9.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/3...14bcdcdca9.jpg I'd post more, but can't find the pics I want :irked: |
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