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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