Brutalist Architecture in 6 Minutes: Ugly or Beautiful? 🤔
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ค. 2024
- Can concrete be beautiful? Proponents of Brutalism certainly thought so. The general public, however, remains divided. While some view brutalist buildings as monstrosities and the greatest sin in the history of architecture, others consider them architectural landmarks with historical, cultural, and personal value.
In this episode, we will explain the idea behind this genre of modernism that has become synonymous with dystopian films (A Clockwork Orange, Blade Runner 2049, and Resident Evil: Afterlife) and perhaps inspire a newfound appreciation for brutalist buildings. Stay tuned!
#Brutalism #Architecture #CuriousMuse
SIGN UP TODAY
🎨 Check out our online courses on Art, Philosophy and more:
courses.curiousmuse.org
JOIN OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
📩 Get your regular dose of culture directly in your inbox
curiousmuse.org/newsletter
DOWNLOAD OUR FREE CHECKLIST
🔥 10 Tips to Enjoy Architecture Like a Pro
courses.curiousmuse.org/10-ti...
CREDITS:
Story: Asja Nastasijevic
Voice: Caleb Mertz
Copyrighting: Brandon Marcus
Production: IK Video Prod
FOLLOW:
► Instagram: / curiousmuse_org
► Facebook: / curiousmuse.org
► TikTok: / curiousmuse.org
LISTEN:
► Spotify: spoti.fi/3agcuii
► Apple Podcasts: apple.co/37dadme
► Google Podcasts: bit.ly/3aglvrC
► Anchor: anchor.fm/curious-muse
Curious Muse brings the best of arts and culture stories from around the world. Our stories will make you feel curious, learn new things and have a good time too. We cover a wide range of topics - visual and performing arts, literature and history, architecture and design, fashion and more - explained in a cool, digital way.
Subscribe and join our community today!
There's a reason Brutalist aesthetics are used in EVERY dystopian movie.
Utopians too
@@carlpissatto1198 No,
@@aaron2709 the reason for the dystopian is: hollywood anti-communist crap propaganda
because of the red scare
i actually don’t know if that’s true lol. just a lil guess-y-poo 🫣:)
Because of its sculptural nature, I love seeing brutalist buildings on their own, with all the attention set towards it. However, if located in an urban environment, it either looks out of place when built near older and newer styles, or it looks drab when built among other brutalist apartment buildings. I've also seen a revival of "eco-brutalism" which isn't actually very eco-friendly, but just brutalist architecture overgrown with plant life (which gives it a nice contrast).
Thanks for sharing your perspective! Eco-brutalism is an interesting mix indeed.
I totally agree!
Well, my main complaint with brutalist architecture is the general lack of finer visual details. The ubiquitous slabs of unpainted, undecorated grey concrete just get really depressing if you have to look at them too often. Similarly to how gothic cathedrals would look really drab and ugly if you removed all the greebling. Covering the featureless slabs with some plant life would solve that problem.
Come to think of it, there's an old factory in my home town which actually looks almost beautiful because the entire façade is covered in lush climbing vines. Without them the place would look like a giant featureless grey wall as viewed from the street.
@@fnorgen usually that applies to bigger brutalist buildings. But if you start looking at smaller buildings like houses, you'll start to notice that there are many intricate details applied to the surface of the concrete, like the method used to apply the concrete that ends up showing different textures, or using fine details like patterns
The Barbican is a great example of eco-brutalism
So living in Estonia, we have a lot of these types of structures. When it comes to government buildings or museums or such, I see the beauty of this type of architecture. But when it's looking at apartment complexes built during the soviet union, it is a sad reminder of what was and what may be again, and how it affects the everyday person. I will say my favorite part is when apartment owners of a complex come together and allow for a renovation of the exterior. Some even get murals on the sides of the building. Turning a sad reminder of the past into something new and beautiful.
🇪🇪👋! Murals definitely make these buildings look more fun!
It will be again, because the young in the west are convinced they have reached the end of history and figured out the answers to all the things people questioned before, like the best ways to govern. They hand wave away all of the horror and misery that the soviets caused, and pretend that it just was not done correctly before. Of course, THEY know how to do it correctly this time!
Arrogant fools doomed to sacrifice god knows how many this time around
I'm going to be honest. I grew up in the 80s New York City. My families originally lived in a very bad part of Brooklyn (Brownsville) until we moved to a Long Island suburb. I remember across the street from our old building was a massive public school and housing complex, all built in the early 1970s in Brutalist/Futuristic style, and than decaying into a hellish, ghetto landscape. No Optimism. No Beauty. This is one art movement that I have no love for.
I think I need more concrete examples to cement the idea behind brutalist architecture. 💪
Concretely! 🤣
Many adherents also cling to that opinion
Like the mob that used to use concrete systematically to push the business and to decrease the population slightly a few decades ago.
😄😉
Please take the time to add labels to the buildings you use for illustration (giving their name and location), so that people who want to learn more about them can search easily.
Thanks for your feedback, we will make sure to include those labels next time.
And call for them to be replaced with more humanizing and livable buildings. Seriously there are only like 10 brutalist buildings in the world that are actually beautiful and well cared for.
As someone who usually prefers colorful environments, part of me wants to find brutalist architecture bland and ugly, but I can't help being oddly fascinated by it. I think part of its charm (for me personally) has something to do with the coldness of vast, empty concrete rooms feeling more like liminal spaces to explore than homes to inhabit. The post-apocalyptic vibe strongly appeals to my extreme introversion.
You said it: It's FASCINATING!!!
I had a "showerthought" recenltly concerning Brutalism: The architects of this style spent their childhood in air-raid shelters. So it's no wonder that they associate safety, "cosyness" and survival with this massive concrete buildings. Later, more lucky generations don't have that association, so to us it's just ugly.
My city has put several brutalist buildings under preservation order, and while I wouldn't mind those eyesores to disappear, that's exactly how baroque fans thought when they tore down gothic buildings so who knows, maybe the future will find some appreciation for those buildings.
Better yet, these buildings were quite possibly designed to be turned over to the army given a Red invasion. You’ll even see some have watch towers and gun holes. It’s harder to invade a country scattered with good forts.
... so to us it's just ugly.
With respect - You should speak for yourself. Your statement should have been ...so to me it's just ugly. The masses may not agree with you and as this item pointed out there are many, many around the world that are beautiful and even protected as wonderful examples that are very liveable. Simply Google something such as 'top ten brutalist buildings' and discover some that may even appeal to you. India has some beutiful ones, Brazil, Canada there is a lengthy list.
@@havingalook2 As a brazilian, Ive seen some. Horrible!
@@havingalook2 Studies have shown that the vast majority of people dislike brutalism
@@jeffreybarry4694 One is literally a battleship! 0:04!
"DYSTOPIAN" springs to mind as this style of architecture is often featured in movies set in a "dystopian" future; where authority and practicality have supplanted freedom and the Arts!
Its just Hollywood making their anti-communist propaganda
We have many examples of brutalist architecture in Latin America as well. In Venezuela for instance (which is the perfect example for economic hardship and decay) a lot of cities were really developed during the mid century/ brutalist era. For instance, in Caracas you can see theaters, universities, government buildings, malls, museums and even housing in that style. One of my favorites is the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex. Mexico is another country that comes to mind.
Thank you for sharing LATAM perspective! We've never been to Caracas so would really love one day to see the architecture there. Teresa Carreño Theater looks HUGE!
The Mexican colegio militar in Tlalpan is one beautiful example of Mexican brutalism, it even appeared in the total recall film :)
@@CuriousMuse It becomes even bigger when you take into account it was made as part of a complex; the Parque Central twin towers (Venezuela's tallest buildings), the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Caobos park and the whole Bellas Artes complex are mostly designed by Carlos Raúl Villanueva (One of Venezuela's most influential architects who had a strong brutalist phase).
@@86hongo Along with Infonavit HQ, Metro Chabacano, Metro Insurgentes, and I think Colegio de México.
I'll add to the main examples of mexican brutalism the works of Abraham Zabludovsky, Teodoro Gonzalez de León, Pedro Ramírez Vazquez, Mario Pani and Felix Candela.
@@fszocelotl Would you say that the massive Aztec Stadium in Mexico City is brutalist?
The problem, as you said it, is that many Brutalist Buildings are very poorly maintained or they were poorly built. but there are many, that are well preserved, and they are really pleasing to the eye.
So glad you appreciate!
I've never seen a brutalist building "pleasing to the eye". They're brutal. They're MEANT to be brutal. They brutalize the city they're built in. There's nothing warm and charming and beautiful and comforting about a brutalist building... because they're brutal.
@@miketackabery7521 that's why is fascinating
Here in the Philippines, there are a lot of Brutalist buildings here, most of them are still in use and the ageing made them more eye-catching.
What are the most famous buildings there?
@@CuriousMuse The most notable one is the Cultural Centre of the Philippines and the various school buildings in the University of the Philippines - Diliman Campus in Quezon City.
Also the MWSS Building beside the UP - Diliman Campus, it is where the Balara Water Filtration plant is located.
And further more of them, the Philippine Heart Centre in, again, Quezon City. The Department of Foreign Affairs building in Pasay, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas building in Manila and Quezon City.
There are lots of those type of architecture here, and they are too many to mention.
@@Vancetizor29 Conex 2023 happened recently, and I finally saw CCP and how good it looks. Definitely an surreal experience.
As with any Architectural movement, there are good and bad designs, functional and well-engineered buildings, and those that should never have been approved. Brutalism, at its best, is a well-designed and engineered building that makes a stamp upon its environment and stands the test of time. At its worst, it is a dehumanizing crumbling eyesore.
Brutalist architecture ignores the street, and that is only thing I don't like about it. I like to look at it, visit it, but I would never live in such urban concept.
So true. This urban concept sometimes ignores the people needs too :)
I'd live in The Barbican in a flash, if I could afford it; other brutalist buildings, not so much...
There are really cool looking brutalist buildings, but I usually only ever find them by looking stuff up myself. For some reason people who like brutalism always hold up the ugliest, most prison-like examples of brutalism as what makes it great.
A lot of university buildings of the 60/70 in public universities in Brazil are influenced by brutalism.
Australia too
I grew up in the 80s New York City. My families originally lived in a very bad part of Brooklyn (Brownsville) until we moved to a bucolic tree-lined Long Island suburb. I remember across the street from our old building was a massive public school and housing complex, all built in the early 1970s in Brutalist/Futuristic style, and than decaying into a hellish, ghetto landscape. No Optimism. No Beauty. This is one art movement that I have no love for.
As somebody who has owned a condominium in a Brutalist for over 3 decades I can attest to a certain practical nature of the form. However, that does not change the fact that Brutalist buildings are extremely ugly. As concrete ages, it just gets uglier and uglier.
Well, maybe there us a haunting beauty in the decay and like brick, concrete is porous and needs to be cleaned properly, and patched. I'm no expert but it seems there should be a way to seal concrete buildings. Like they do on concrete floors and counter tops, to prevent moisture from damaging it. The Coliseum in Rome is a concrete building. Should they tear it down because concrete is ugly? I live in NYC. Lots of brutalist buildings are very handsome. I M Pei could be considered a brutalist architect for a lot of his worknin the 70s. I think the term brutalist has a negative connotation, but if we explore a little deeper, we find that there are actually lots of design elements that we appreciate that we're featured in brutalist architecture. It's a bigger umbrella than what first comes to mind.
I’ve always had the idea of a design philosophy, a design derived from which where the artist was from, you can see that in many cultures throughout the world, for example,
-Japan’s Traditional Homes are stilted, foundations on a curious incline, and made out of wood, which is to reflect their nature: Typhoons, Flooding, and in constant Earthquake
-In South East Asia, in Stilted, mostly wood and rattan with high roofs are often used, as a way to, again reflect and protect themselves of their natural surroundings, Typhoons, Heavy winds, and floods,
-In Greece, the open air, hardy foundation of their buildings reflect the humid climate of the region and their susceptibility to earthquakes, that is why most Traditional Greek Architecture is often small and compact, save their temples, palaces, and city centers, which often favour compact-ness and strength
Brutalist Architecture, I think, although I’m not much of a fan reflects this idea, the warring and destructive nature of both the 1st and 2nd World Wars to an entire generation is devastating, to me, Brutalist Architecture reflect Order in Chaos, Protection and a Sturdy foundation against what they fear most: Themselves
Thanks for the great video! I watched it because I wanted to learn to appreciate the brutalist style in spite of the fact that I despise it. I tried but it didn’t work.
While I can appreciate Brutalism on an intellectual level, and what the architects were trying to do, I can’t do so on an emotional level. It’s just so heavy, brooding, gray, cold and foreboding in style. (Brood-alism perhaps?)
I don’t understand how it’s ‘honest’ in presentation to the material it is built with when the Romans built with it 2000 years ago and came up with something completely different. They created soaring spaces, arches and graceful structures full of natural light that inspire us still today. The Parthenon, for example. So I don’t believe it’s the material, it’s the style and presentation. You could also make heavy, thick, windowless structures out of logs, rock and metal that show their ‘honest’ characteristics, but that’s just one way of using and expressing those materials.
I think Brutalism was an experiment in architecture that didn’t catch on or age well, but whose better examples should be preserved. We need to appreciate the thinking behind these structures while also making it less likely we will make these same architectural mistakes again.
+1 to preservation of the great examples and informing our future choices so we make less mistakes 👍🏻
this channel is absolutely amazing. The best educational, short-form content I've seen in regards to Art in a LONG time. if not EVER.
Many Brutalist buildings I noticed lack curves & arches and those do help make a building more cosy & comfortable. Also it wouldn't hurt to use more colors other than gray.
Why is it so hard for everyone to just say CUBE SQUARE!! wtf!!
Your comment made me aware that every brutalist building I like has some sort of curve or circle in it. Some of them are even designed taking into account the direction of the wind and angle of light.
Brutalism: a cold clump of shapes and lines. It's purpose is pure function. No beauty, or meaning. It's just there.
Spot on. Unfortunately.
Great summary 👍🏻
its putpose is not pure function. otherwise they would choose the most simple forms and not those crazy sculptural shapes.
the biggest myth in architecture is form follows function, they all say it, but end up designing whatever they want
And that's what I love about it
what do you mean "shapes and lines"??? Wtf?? How fcking difficult is it to say: SQUARE or BOX or fucking CUBE???!!
If the support for Brutalism comes largely from architects, this in itself makes the notion of 'saving' these buildings highly suspect. Architects, along with city planners, and the extremely corrupt construction industry, have a lot to answer for. They have ruined so many cities with their monuments to hubris and corporate feudalism. They have stripped cities of ornamentation and human scale buildings to create lovely crystalline visions to look down on from private jets. City after city falls to the inhumanity of the cult of architecture. So no, only save the most stark and frightening as reminders of the insanity of the 20th Century, and eliminate the rest, finding suitable uses for all of that concrete. The mantra, 'form follows function' is right up there with 'Arbeit macht frei' as a totalitarian axiom. (No apologies to Loos, Bauhaus, the International Style, and Postmodernism.)
That's naïve: brutalism was developed in response to the fascist-nazi-stalinist monumentalism.
Brutalism will never not look soulless to me.
Please more architecture videos, love your videos. Great work
Thank you 🌺 we have two more architectural episodes coming, stay tuned!
We have two examples of brutalism here in Fort Worth, Texas. Our city hall is one, and the Fort Worth Water Gardens is another. Part of the 1976 movie Logan's Run was filmed at the Water Gardens. The Fine Arts Building at the University of Texas at Arlington is another example close to Fort Worth.
Tadao Ando's Hill of the Buddha is my favourite example of modern brutalism.
Bad brutalism is ugly, good brutalism is beautiful, unfortunately, Sturgeon's law holds true: '90% of anything is shit'.
😉👍🏻
Croat here, grew up in a brutalist apartment. It's cramped, and how the apartment was made, I had to share a room with my brother. I'm aware the outside of my apartment complex is not the prettiest, but it's a place I call home. And home it shall remain
Well done. Perhaps you should have showen more of the brilliant ones that do hold the publics favour to counter the negative view held by some concerning this architecture. I find many of the buildings around the world simply wonderful. The Robarts Library in Toronto, Ontairo, Canada is a very fine example of quite successful this architecture.
Thank you for sharing these fine examples 💪🏻
Half the time the structures could use a serious power wash and their grounds tended and they'd be fine, but the neglect really highlights the negative aspects of the style.
I think brutalism can be very beautiful and calming if contrasted with lush landscape. I think a balance of nature and concrete is best for the architectural style.
I agree - it's oddly calming..
It's better than beautiful. IT'S METAL! Well, it's concrete, but it's METAL!!! 🎸
I lived in Boston for a decade, and I confess I never loved the intensely brutalist design of its City Hall (several shots of which are featured in this video). The building, and the nigh-featureless plaza around it, are really jarring compared with the centuries-old buildings of the nearby neighborhoods. I understand it's acclaimed by architects, but IMO housing public governmental functions in a forbidding and inscrutable concrete fortress is simply not a good look.
Onenof my fav channels. Keep up the good stuff!
Lovely to hear it 😍, thank you!
I find it interesting how stark the divide in opinion is regarding brutalist architecture. For example, in 2001, The Barbican estate in London was given a grade two listing - and only two years later was named one of London ugliest buildings.
Indeed, we see it in the comments under this video too! 🙈 and what do you personally think of the Barbican estate?
@@CuriousMuse haha, I think it’s beautiful. I have a friend who lives there and we often eat at it’s restaurant outside, admiring the view! The Barbican conservatory is also magnificent and if I ever get married, I plan for it to be there.
(Also, while I’ve got the chance, I’d like to say I love how diverse and varied your channel is :)
@@0Iive I personally don't understand why people think they are ugly
Life without industry is guilt, industry without art is brutality.
3:40-41 brings back lots of memories.
The Roger Stevens Building at the University of Leeds
Great video, this helps me to TRULY understand brutalist architecture. THANK YOUUU
Woohoo, so glad to hear it! 😍
Just found this channel and I am obsessed with it.
Can you guys make videos of other architectural movements?
Of course! 😍 And welcome to our channel!
In Brazil, more specifically in the state of Rio de Janeiro, there are numerous buildings with a similar style. They are the CIEP ( CENTRO INTEGRADO DE EDUCAÇÃO PÚBLICA) In Igles CIEP ( INTEGRATED CENTER OF PUBLIC EDUCATION ) These standardized buildings were designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer.
I think that we should always try to fix something before just replacing it. If part of the building is still viable then build around it. Keep the parts that work and fix or change the parts that don’t. Razing something to the ground because it is more convenient to is not ok. In Vancouver housing prices are so high that they demolish 5 year old house and make condominium’s.
Indeed, this would give a 2nd chance to the building!
The problem with concrete, a lot of time the structure isn't viable, cracks form, water & ice get in, decay, corrosion, cheap ingredients, cheap contractors, lazy inspectors.....
That’s what I wish they had done with the Richfield Tower in Los Angeles. It was a gorgeous and intricate black and gold art deco building that was demolished. I wish they had at least salvaged a lot of the terra cotta and gold elements to incorporate into a new building
Great video, fascinating. Iowa State even has some of these buildings that were designed as both bunkers and to break up riots. I don't love it, but some of the structures are rather interesting.
Hi! I loved the video. I would like to see something about Frank Ghery, more specifically about the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.
We have a video on the channel titled “top 5 architects”, he’s one of them!
cool videos! is the curious muse the one who shows up on the zoom screen?
Brutalism moved in jewelry design in 1970s, mostly by german designers. Those pieces are very large and bulky, but at the same time very sensual. I can say the same about architectural design. Infact, I grew up in one of those buildings and it's still standing🙂!
Great job , new information
Yay! 😀
Unité has been my spirit building since i was in architecture school. I absolutely admire how Corbi flexed his space planning abilities to design that baby.
Corridors only at every three floors. THREE FLOORS!
If the problem is the bare concrete, just paint it. The grey color is probably a reminder of autumn season, and that can be instinctively sad for some people. In Mexico we had an architect called Agustin Hernandez, who merged these brutalist tendencies with ancient architecture by the mayans and aztecs, giving his pieces a deeper feeling and meaning, something that other mexican architects also developed, and we appreciate those landmarks to these days.
The cathedral in Tokyo is an amazing piece of brutalist architecture.
I think a lot of the derision for brutalism comes from the fact that it's just simply a difficult style to do well. Put a top-notch architect on the project and they'll give you gold. Put a lesser one on the project and you'll get depressing or ugly. Do the same with a glass-box project and the worst you'll get is something inoffensive.
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center is mostly brutalist. I grew up going to the Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City on the OUHSC campus and I hated the style when I was young, but I worked at the OUHSC campus in adulthood and the addition of natural elements like vines and flowers has made me love them. Probably a combination of relatively recent changes and nostalgia.
Probably both indeed! ☺️
Ugly, definitely, the city doesn't need more concrete.
Its logical why this style popped up after WW2. The buildings look like fortresses. Because in a way that's the point. The experience of war led to designs meant for survival not beauty.
There is a classically Brutalist house a block from me. At first I thought it hadn't been finished, but it was. I've tried my best to like it, but I'm not doing too well. I think silly things each day when I drive past it, like "Maybe if he put some pretty curtains up", but of course that would ruin it as a piece of Brutalist architecture.
I like good examples of Brutalism like the Barbican. I think a lot of people hate Brutalism because they think of it in terms of ‘were a city to have one style would this be appropriate?’ however Brutalism can often be understood by looking at it against its context and by looking at it’s sculptural quality, like a building hewn out of a massive rock.
The problem with the style is that it’s VERY powerful so if you get it wrong then it’s overpowering.
I’d like you guys to talk about Iceberg architecture style in next episodes ! Appreciate it so much !
👍🏻
The moving visual effect at 0:54 display an understandable representation of what brutalism in architecture is represented as. I now imagine the correlation of hard and deeply processed materials that come from within the Earth, being stacked on top of the earth; glorifying innate characteristics of our planet by allowing all to empirically understand what was not previously understood.
Or, perhaps it illustrates how all humans on this planet fail to understand anything at all...demonstrating our own brutishness.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, we have the Bank of London and the National Library, both designed by Arq. Clorindo Testa in the brutalist style. They're not beautiful but they're functional.
Im from Germany and the Townhall from my home City Aalen is brutalist. In the ladt years we had a discussion about whether to renovate or to torn down the Building. Im glad that they will renovate in the future
Me encantan estos videos son muy claros.😺
Me gustaria un video sobre el "abstract expressionism" por favor.😸
Thank you for watching! Great idea for our next video 👍🏻
Brutalism also was intended to make an anti-nationalist statement. It was attempting to also stand in stark contrast to the ornate classical design that the nazis had coopted as their style. The style was bare and was meant to not have a national identity. Instead making an international style.
The Nazis also liked breathing, let's stop doing that as well.
So it was also a way to try and take culture out of the equation? I think brutalism looks good personality but due to how concrete ages I think they could at least use a coat of paint. Paint murals on them or something. That could be an amazing blend of the old and the new.
@@quagmoe7879 It wasn't meant to take culture in itself, but rather make it a style for "human culture", if you believe such a thing can exist. As for painted-on brutalism, you should check out Mexican Brutalism. Specifically the works of Luis Barragán.
I've never understand that motivation though: there's a lot of fascistic undertones to many of the big brutalist architects, which you can definitely see in, say, Brasilia
@@cmbeadle2228 I'm going to be honest. I grew up in the 80s, NYC. My families originally in a very bad part of Brooklyn (Brownsville) until we moved to a Long Island suburb. I remember across the street from our old building was a massive public school and housing complex, all built in the early 1970s in Brutalist/Futuristic style, and than decaying within a decade into a hellish, ghetto landscape. No Optimism. No Beauty. This is one art movement that I will never have love for.
Brutalism was also very big in Latin America; there are a lot of examples in Mexico and Colombia. In Mexico, which is a socialist democratic country, it was taken as a way to develop cheap and lasting urbanization projects spanning from public hospitals, to apartment buildings and museums. This lasted a few decades all the way to the late 80's.
While I don't love all Brutalist buildings, I appreciate the movement and will always defend it. Nowadays when so many buildings are nondescript, amorphous, or unoriginal glass blocks that simply blend into the sky, I long for the warmth and character of stone structures. Diversity in a city's architecture is something to be celebrated. It shows history, change, and variety of thought, so give Brutalism some love.
❤️ to diversity of architecture
this style is so depression-inducing. imagine driving through a road with raw concrete, massive, somber-colored buildings left and right, and the climate of the city is like that of London's where it's cloudy/gloomy most of the time. sucks the joy of living for sure
😬
That's basically one of my dreams, where I was driving through a road with symmetrical brutalist buildings (they had proportions similar to a hammer) and afterwards I was going to a local park that was also filled with overly sized brutalist monuments, however that park itself looked very scruffy.
You guys are all talking about how a lot of Former Soviet Union is. Moscow has 90 sunny days a year, Saint Petersburg - 60. Even baroque looks dark and gloomy here
The university near my house was somewhat loosely built in brutalism style, just like many old buildings were built in the same era in my city. I grown up seeing it fine structure and intimidating form and yet I don't know why I still love it. Unfortunately it was tore down and rebuilt, the same fate as it "peers". After playing the game Control made be Remedy, I was madly in love and addicted to brutalist architecture.
Concrete still one of the most durable material to build, all the new material which appeared in the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21th are way more expensive to keep in shape during time...
I work at Nuneaton Library in the UK. I have used Blender to recreate the building as I think it will be torn down after we get our new building. My hope is to have a 3d version for the public to see after it has gone, as many locals consider it to be an iconic building in the town and have campaigned to get it registered as a listed building to no avail. My mum was a small child when it was built and she thought it was the most futuristic thing she had ever seen back in the 60s. It was designed by Frederick Gibberd. As someone who found this type of architecture depressing and hideous, I have developed an appreciation for it as I have recreated it in minute detail. I have also seen photos of how it looked in the 60s and I love his use of natural light and how he considered the space around the building to be as important as the building itself. A local MP said it looked like a soviet style car park, and although I agree, I have grown to love it and will miss it when it is gone. I won't miss the leaks though. Concrete doesn't age well.
We’ve just checked out Nuneaton Library 📚 - it actually looks nice! Is it certain it will be gone?
The fate of the building hasn't been talked about much but the area is being redeveloped, including the roads and surrounding buildings. The ones next to us will be pulled down and that's where the new library will go. Agreed, it is kind of nice. The original interior was beautiful. It is a shame most of the arch windows have been covered up and lots of interior features were altered over time. It would be nice to recreate the original interior if I get the chance.
I couldn’t find the entrance to one Brutalist building here in Australia that I gave up …. also one of the buildings, our Art Gallery no less,
had to have the entrance repositioned because it too was so hard for visitors to find …
If concrete defines brutalist architecture, then I must say, it’s one my most fav material. Just simple clean canvas when done right.
For me, and I guess it’s how it was intended, brutalist architecture only works visually when there are many people in the frame to bring color and life into the picture. That’s why they look so depressing in pictures solely showcasing the buildings.
Well, I love Brutalism! People call it inhumane and depressing, but nothing depresses me more than seeing people being happy about things that
I don't like, and I don't like "happy" architecture. Brutalist buildings are not happy buildings, but that's also why they make me happy.
I suppose if people painted them in bright colours, they'd be more accepting of them, but that would rob them of all their oppressive charm!
Before watching this clip, I definetly wasn't a fan of brutalist architecture. I perceived them as cold, and unappealing, like mentioned in the clip. However, when learning about the concept of "honesty derived from it's form and material" it opened a new perspective. And I grew an appreaciation for these buildings, although I still think they look cold at first sight. It was also interesting to see how brutalism developed and evolved, as well as its comeback. I hope with its comeback, people also think about ways about maintaining these buildings.
Wonderful, glad to hear we offered a new perspective 👍🏻. We agree these buildings can look cold at first sight
I gather it is not by chance that so many dystopian movies choose brutalistic architecture as background.
In my city we are plagued by a monumental (decaying) residential block from the early 70s. It really is an abomination. It has been sold many times to "investors" who did of course nothing of the sort. Many people still live in there and/or own appartments. But really noone wants to go through the basement car park at night. Perfect setting for a splatter movie. :D
While good to be occupied and still exist, it is unfortunate that one of the recent owners of former 1960s IBM campus TREX in Boca Raton FL decided to seal & paint all of the concrete structure. A part of the brutal honesty has been lost and a new added expense of forever maintenance will be repainting.
@@CuriousMuse The fact that you call brutalism honest is an insane propaganda-tier white washing of an ugly art style, adopted by the same people who made modern art a thing. You sir neither have taste, nor honesty. Go white wash your repulsive art elsewhere. It is fine to be forced to use cheap materials. Steering into the ugly and voluntarily picking the right amount of features with building material to maximize the ugly is unacceptible. choosing to perpetuate this art style by choice is even worse.
the honesty in architecture is a myth
if they were trying to be honest about the function of the building they would make the simplest building fit to that function, not those sculptural overlaping cubes and cantilevers.
beware of most architectural philosophy, its mostly bullshit and never corresponds to whats built
Nice video. I've just miss some mention of brutalism in Brazil. Most of the country capital city architectural style is brutalism.
Dallas Texas grew in a big way in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The entire metro area is lousy with Brutalism. I get that there needs to be preservation. But I wouldn’t be sad to see many examples replaced.
Didn’t know that the entire metro area in Dallas is full of brutalism - thanks for sharing this fact
I love this kind of building! I didn't know it had a name. Thank you for the video!
Thank you for watching!
Some of those with the odd shapes look really cool, but the boring tower ones remind me of that awful 432 Park Ave piece of crap. I think it would be fun to build a brutalist mansion in a fancy part of town, just to piss off all the neighbors.
Lol, right on the Billionaire's Row! 🤣
Brutalism seems very hit or miss. However I think the context and purpose in which they were built has proved to be almost as important as the design itself. The Barbican is a center of arts and community, and was designed meticulously, despite it's flaws. This contrasts deeply with the Balfron Tower and Pruitt Igoe, which weren't really invested in for the long term in the same way, and seemed to have been a case of "build our problems away", without having the same level of care and budget put into them.
So true! PS. By the way, Balfron Tower has just got an upgrade! 💪🏻
Some of those architectural monstrosities could have passed as secret police HQs. The rest just remind me of student dorms in the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Ever since I was a child, I've always appreciated the look of just wood and bare concrete. I watched both our houses as it were built from start to finish, and I've shared my ideas with my father, but coming from a child he found it silly. The look, the smell, the feeling when you're inside a room and all you can see is wood and concrete, it's something.
I first saw brutalist architecture in the movie Total Recall with Schwarzenegger running around Mexico City.
The most beautiful Brutalist building I have encountered is the St. John's Abbey Church in Collegeville, Minnesota with its breathtaking brutalist honeycomb stained glass window that covers the entire north facade of the church...
😍
no wonder i loved the first The maze runner movie
its those gigantic concrete...everywhere
Major cities in Texas use this style of architecture for city buildings such as libraries and city halls. Dallas Ft Worth Arlington
As in every architectural style,there are good and not so good examples. As this documentary states the style really involved civic architecture as well as postwar modernism. I think Brutalist benefitted from sculptural elements that certainly had an elevated beauty.
Unfortunately because it was an affordable way of creating buildings, there was skimming on quality of the construction at times. I’m from Montreal, my city went through a massive 60s boom of concrete structures. Unfortunately when the Italian mafia is involved with the business of concrete, you have structures that will fall over in 30 years. However, some of the most architecturally, interesting and beautiful buildings in my city are of the brutalist modernist style.
Dystopian would be a nice adjective.
Thanks to the narrator for giving us a few antonyms for ugly: sculptural massive, rigid, stripped down, blunt, rough, lifeless monochrome. All the buildings were designed to be utilitarian. They were made to make an impression but they are lifeless monstrosities. Now people want to preserve the history of ugliness and venerate them? Most people do not want to near nor in them. The buildings are oppressive to humanity. People want to fellowship. They want to commune. At least the design for a sports stadium or a casino is more honest than le béton brut. Any frivolous distraction is lost upon the fanatic.
I find it chic - a bold statement of simplicity. Stylish and daring at the same time.. It should DEFINITELY be preserved!!!
Concrete doesn't age well. To answer this, let us first make a short list of old and new building materials:
Old:
\--------
* Limestone
* Marble
* Lime concrete
* Clay fired bricks
* ceramic tiles
* Slates
* Sandstone
* Granite
New
\------
* Portland cement concrete
* Steel Reinforced concrete
* Reconstructed stone
* Pre-cast concrete
* Sandlime bricks
* Stainless steel
* Aluminum
* Laminated plastics
All the materials on the bottom list,so because they are cheaper in the short-term. There is little doubt that, quite apart from their appearance and cheapness, the materials at the bottom of the list have a shorter lifespan than those at the top. The materials on top have a near infinite shelf life.....Hope Bagenal, headed the UK's Building Research station......points out; the best building materials are practically inert and last long against weather, geo-chemical processes, whereas the great defect of all modern materials is their high coefficient of expansion. This means that their seasonal and diurnal expansion and contraction or freeze/thaw cycles; is such that expansion joints are essential. Even a modern brick wall has to have expansion joints every 30 feet. This in turn breaks up the monolithic nature of any structure into little isolated blocks with expansion joints. The weathering and attrition at these joints is an obvious long-term weakness, whereas a traditionally built structure has none of these problems because the matrix is lime instead of cement. Think of the Pantheon in Rome, built in brick and lime mortar. It has a diameter of 142 feet and has stood for nearly two thousand years. No reinforced concrete structure could last anything like so long because once air and moisture have penetrated to the reinforcement there is nothing which can permanently inhibit its breakdown. It does not even make a good ruin.
Brutalism uses Poured concrete whose core elements are less exposed than external, Hence their weathering and cracking. Without expansion joints, the building contracts and expands rapidly with seasons.
Also brutalism was never meant to be permanenet, it was built to accommodate a housing/office shortage post war and hopefully demolished when it outlived it's necessity.
Wow this is a very profound review. Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise, it was very valuable!
I find that well done Brutalist architecture can have a stark and calming beauty. They often lack busy ornamentation instead focusing on large unadorned surfaces.
I lived in Trellick Tower as a child (4:21-4:39). It was a prime example of social housing, mostly for low-income families. Then developers got their hands on it and now flats are being sold for half a million because it’s an iconic building. Goldfinger would be disgusted
Ohhh, they sadly did the same with Trellick's syster, Balfron Tower, in East London....
The best examples of Brutalism should be saved. I think many Soviet Era monuments are great examples and should be saved
We can preserve one or two, as reminder of the ugly rubbish we allowed architects to build in the 50s -you know; so we never forget and never do it again
People who played the video game Control, will know this style. It made new people realize the style is beautiful.
Here in Greater Vancouver, I know people who live in concrete high-rise apartments. One major problem they all have, when there's a leaking toilet on the 15th floor, it quickly becomes a toilet problem on floors 1 to 14. If it's not a toilet it's an overflowing bathtub or a washing machine.
Oh, this doesn’t sound like a nice place to live at all
I once heard a story of an old woman who lived in a concrete tower block, she used to live in a row of tenements however the street she lived on along with several neighbouring streets were torn down to make way for a shopping centre and the residents moved into apartment blocks however she was old and infirm and the council had to send someone every day to help her down the stairs. And that leads to my point about brutalist housing it lacks human scale and even suburban housing with it's overpowering banality is better because the individual homes were built on a scale fit for humans.
Brutalism, as expected, is honest, it reflects honestly on our dim reality.
I feel more cultured already!
Perfect 👍🏻
There's an unsettling beauty to brutalism. You don't know if it's a house or a prison.
You have articulated it perfectly. I thought it was beautiful although it may tend to look rough, edgy, geometric, and have that dominant brute feel to it (It has its charms). From the outside, you cannot help but wonder what's inside. It looks a bit claustrophobic especially because of the sparse windows and the thick look to it. Also, it has that mystique that there might be some covert operations or secret organization inside, or it could be a bunker or a fallout shelter. Lmao!
TNT all of them. They are so depressing. I always have a feeling of angst when I go through an area with brutalist buildings. They are as beautiful as a parking lot.
My elementary school and the county government building where I lived in NY were designed in this style by the architect, Paul Rudolph.
Both were built in the 60s and both are no longer there.
Great examples, thanks for sharing! 🙏🏻