None from me. It's an interesting curiosity, but it is always deleterious in an urban context.
I challenge anyone to post a photo of a brutalist building in a city that isn't ugly in and of itself and/or makes its surroundings worse.
It's partly a function of their age (having been built in the broadly anti-urban 60s and 70s) and partly a function of their use (the style being favoured for monumental institutional buildings), but you're right, there aren't many brutalist buildings that are sympathetic to their urban surroundings or that generally adhere to the "correct" rules of traditional urban design. The movement wasn't really about creating great cities.
Still, I think our cities are richer for having this kind of architectural diversity than they would be if they were to be replaced by urbanistically correct buildings.
Loving this thread! Brutalism is honest architecture which is why I love it. It doesn't pretend to be anything but what it is. And generally the few examples that we have from it are still pretty good. Sad to see the AGA in Edmonton made into a mediocre Gehry-inspired building even if I still like it.
omg I forgot about this building. A week or two after I moved to Ottawa, a guy (who soon after became my boyfriend for a few months) took me on a walking date all around town and we ended up dancing (without music ) on the raised public area of this building. It was sooo romantic I was swooning haha. It was in the area of those 4 hexagonal planters, I believe overlooking the Rideau Canal.
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The undisputed capital of brutalism in the Maritimes is Charlottetown.
Here's a panoramic shot of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, built in 1964.
To add to the fun, in the background on the right is the former Dominion Building, which used to be the main federal office complex in the city, also built in the early 1960s.
Another couple of photos:
The main provincial office complex in Charlottetown is also brutalist.
I find government buildings which use a Brutalist style to be a really interesting combination. Brutalism always comes off as cold, impersonal, and imposing. It is an odd choice for a court of law, since attending court is already one of the most imposing interactions someone can have with the state. Ditto for something like a police office (I believe the old Saskatoon police station was brutalist, for example).
Perhaps it was intentional given the sense of authority expressed in the architecture. I wonder if the province would choose a different style were they to build a new courthouse today.
None from me. It's an interesting curiosity, but it is always deleterious in an urban context.
I challenge anyone to post a photo of a brutalist building in a city that isn't ugly in and of itself and/or makes its surroundings worse.
Taste is subjective. I could explain the theories of Brutalist architecture to you, but honestly? No one should waste their time trying to convince you of something you won't allow yourself to understand.
The undisputed capital of brutalism in the Maritimes is Charlottetown.
Here's a panoramic shot of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, built in 1964.
There's a riposte to the "name one brutalist building that improves the surroundings." The Confederation Centre is brilliant. Partly because it isn't looming and oppressive but with wide open spaces, invites passers-by in to its internal spaces.
The Killam Library, on the Dalhousie University campus in Halifax, is probably the east coast's most-loathed example of the style, but I completely love it. It doesn't really come through photos, but there's a grace and levity to it in person that's really striking. The foundation along the bottom contains similar stone as the early 19th-century buildings original to the campus--a nice way to establish some aesthetic continuity with the historic campus, even in this radically different style.
I am going to be accused of being biased but I don't care what anyone says...……….I love the London Courthouse! I love it's sense of strength and dominance it has when driving into the city over the Fork of Thames. I like the imposing stance, strong stature, and bold design that is befitting of a legal institution.
Generally I don't like brutalist architecture but there are some exceptions and I think the LCH is one of them.
In any medium, I never judge a work of art based simply on its style or its genre. To criticize architecture for being brutalist is like criticizing a painting for being impressionist, or a photograph for being street photography, or a song for being neoclassical darkwave, or a film for being comedy, or a video game for being an RPG. It doesn't make sense to me.
So many awesome buildings in this thread. Some of these are my favourite buildings in the whole country. It's especially refreshing after so much sterile soulless glass the past 15 years. The heaviness and solidity of brutalist buildings are so re-assuring and comforting. In a throw away world where so much feels temporary it's ability to anchor and emit a sense of permanence is a welcome sight.
More please!
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) on the raised public area of this building. It was sooo romantic I was swooning haha. It was in the area of those 4 hexagonal planters, I believe overlooking the Rideau Canal.
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