Comments on: Love me some big concrete slabs

Question: Love me some big concrete slabs

tylerfulltilt — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:34:42 -0800

What buildings are considered "quintessential" examples of brutalist architecture?

By: spoons

spoons — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:38:15 -0800

Did you try the Wiki? I live in Boston, so the City Hall is as brutal as it comes.

By: andromache

andromache — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:39:28 -0800

The FBI Building in DC

Am I right in thinking there's more to Brutalism than unornamented concrete? Like, Brutalist buildings look imposing and probably lack human scale, right? Commentary that didn't originate on the wikipedia site would be nice . . .

By: rachelpapers

rachelpapers — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:40:09 -0800

I'm no expert, but looking at some Louis Kahn buildings will certainly get you started. I've been to the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, and it is a masterpiece.

By: andromache

andromache — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:41:06 -0800

Commentary that didn't originate on the wikipedia site would be nice . . .

Incidentally, that's not a dig at you, spoons, I just haven't read much on Brutalism and I'm curious for good sources other than our trusted user-generated encyclopedia.

By: tylerfulltilt

tylerfulltilt — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:44:12 -0800

I looked at the wiki, but it's kind of disorganized. I'm looking for buildings that are generally recognized as masterpieces.

Like the Salk Research Institute in La Jolla, CA

By: Tomorrowful

Tomorrowful — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:44:46 -0800

My alma mater's Posvar Hall is a prime example, and also features a delightful sculpture that hangs over your head and looks like it will kill you.

By: Alison

Alison — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:51:15 -0800

Whenever I hear about brutalist architecture, a mention of Boston City Hall is never far behind.

By: aught

aught — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:54:26 -0800

The Washington, DC, Third Church of Christ Scientist building has been in the news lately.

By: Fuzzy Skinner

Fuzzy Skinner — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:56:30 -0800

Much of the architecture on Roosevelt Island, NY is said to be in the Brutalist style. I can't give you specific buildings, but maybe some searching will reveal some gems. (The movie Dark Water was filmed there, by the way. It's worth watching just for the views of the island and the buildings.)

By: Citrus

Citrus — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:57:58 -0800

Damn... There's an apartment complex in Montreal that's visible from the bateau-mouche, and it nails this style right on the head. I wish I could remember what it's called.

By: chan.caro

chan.caro — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:06:49 -0800

Indiana University's Art Museum was designed by I.M. Pei and is pretty exemplary, I think.

By: wfrgms

wfrgms — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:09:13 -0800

The University of Illinois at Chicago (formerly the Circle Campus) has been called the architecture of brutality. I spend most of my time in the Behavioral Sciences Building designed by Walter Netsch, who was apparently an agoraphobic.

By: mippy

mippy — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:10:58 -0800

St Peter's Seminary in Kinross, Scotland, though some would argue it's modernist. Also the Alton Estate in Roehampton, London, which was designed after Corbusier and is now listed.

Very famous examples in the UK are Portsmouth's Tricorn Centre and the Trellick Tower in Notting Hill.

By: mippy

mippy — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:11:55 -0800

Forgot the Tricorn Centre in Lego link. Duh.

By: Maxwell_Smart

Maxwell_Smart — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:16:16 -0800

Buffalo City Court
Secretariat Building, Chandigarh, India
Palace of Justice, Chandigarh, India

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:17:52 -0800

The entire UIC campus. Wow, what an eyesore.

By: The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:27:22 -0800

The Geisel Library at the UCSD.

By: LionIndex

LionIndex — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:27:54 -0800

There's an apartment complex in Montreal that's visible from the bateau-mouche, and it nails this style right on the head. I wish I could remember what it's called.

Is it Habitat, by Moshe Safdie? A stack of a bunch of concrete shoeboxes?

A lot of university buildings, especially those built in the 60s, are great examples of Brutalism, which itself is kind of the International Style gone gonzo. Bill Pereira was a big name with that kind of stuff, especially within the UC system.

The Brutalism wikipedia page mentions Tadao Ando as a figure, but I'm not so sure I'd classify his stuff as such, even though he uses concrete extensively. However, he's probably coming out of the Metabolist style in Japan, which does share some features with Brutalism. If you just like a bunch of concrete though, he's totally your dude.

Paul Rudolph is another guy, who's masterpiece is the Yale Art and Architecture building. A lot of my professors spent a lot of time in that building, so we heard about it a lot.

By: smitt

smitt — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:27:55 -0800

The American Embassy in Ottawa, Ontario.

By: carbide

carbide — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:28:32 -0800

Robin Hood Gardens in London - that wiki entry has some of the interesting recent discussion about its future linked.

Also in London, the Barbican, which is on some of People Will Always Need Plates's amazing plates and mugs, alongside the dreamy Trellick Tower.

By: tylerfulltilt

tylerfulltilt — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:28:55 -0800

Yamanashi Press and Broadcasting Center
Kyoto International Conference Center

By: Maxwell_Smart

Maxwell_Smart — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:30:07 -0800

The Whitney in NYC
National Assembly Building, Dhaka, Bangladesh

By: LionIndex

LionIndex — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:31:43 -0800

Montreal's Habitat '67, for Citrus.

By: Liosliath

Liosliath — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:33:04 -0800

La Tourette Monastery. (Eveux-sur-'Arbresle, France)

"New Brutalism" : Hunstanton School. (Norfolk)

Ham Common Flats. (London)

By: jonathanbell

jonathanbell — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:36:15 -0800

From a purely aesthetic, rather than theoretical, point of view, try the Barbican Estate in London. For the latter, the work of the Smithsons usually suffices.

The Tricorn Centre is long gone now, with the same architect's Gateshead Car Park also on its way out. In the US, Paul Rudolph's Art and Architecture Building in Yale is a good example of rough concrete.

Corb's Maison Jaoul is often considered the prototype Brutalist building, but stylistically it's a world apart from the concrete monumentality you're presumably looking for. By that definition, Arthur Erickson's Lethbridge University qualifies, along with big urban schemes like the Brunswick Centre.

By: Liosliath

Liosliath — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:39:40 -0800

And Sugden House.

By: MeetCleaverTheatre

MeetCleaverTheatre — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:42:23 -0800

Possibly my old undergrad college would apply.... the campus of Northern Kentucky University is nothing but concrete....has a wonderful Orwellian feel to it. (I absolutely loved the look)

By: boubelium

boubelium — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:53:25 -0800

The truly oppressive Robarts Library at the University of Toronto.

By: Lleyam

Lleyam — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:59:43 -0800

Trellick Tower's older brother:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfron_Tower

By: SciencePunk

SciencePunk — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:01:50 -0800

The Royal & Sun Alliance building in Liverpool, which actually quite nice, in a way.

By: kittyprecious

kittyprecious — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:13:52 -0800

My introduction to (neo)Brutalism was Wurster Hall in Berkeley, which was notable for being (a) the ugliest building on campus, (b) the most geologically unsound building on campus, and (c) the home of the COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN, for God's sake.

It's not uncommon at this time of year to see groups of incoming freshman squinting at it in disbelief after being told that it was intended to resemble a dragon somehow.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:22:05 -0800

Simon Fraser University and the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. Architect Arthur Erickson did many raw concrete designs.

By: PercussivePaul

PercussivePaul — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:40:03 -0800

The math and computer science building at the University of Waterloo in southwestern Ontario, Canada, is locally well-known. I don't know how famous it is among architects though.

By: MarshallPoe

MarshallPoe — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:51:52 -0800

Don't forget the Flak Towers!

By: beagle

beagle — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:59:01 -0800

Several of the buildings at UMass-Amherst are in this style. Also, the student center at MIT. However, I would not call any of those masterpieces or "quintessential", nor are many of the buildings cited in the answers above paragons of the style. In fact, the entire style has always been controversial, because aesthetics aside, it frequently ignores human scale and utility to occupants in favor of mass, drama and size. In Boston there's serious thought being given to demolishing City Hall and redeveloping the entire area around it. The only problem is that it would take something like a nuclear weapon to bring it down.

By: gyusan

gyusan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:59:46 -0800

Regarding Wurster Hall at UC Berkeley - I work there.

A) Wurster is hardly the ugliest building on campus (for starters, please look at Kroeber hall across the way), but regardless of popular opinion, it was never intended to be a "pretty building"- it was intended to be a working building, a design laboratory, which it very much is - and a great success at that.

B) Furthermore, it underwent a major seismic refit in the past ten years, and is one of the safest buildings on campus.

C) Yes, it is the home of the College of Environmental Design. It was designed by a team of architects that taught in the College of Environmental Design, and the seismic refit was led by one of the faculty earthquake experts. Most people at CED love Wurster Hall. I guess that's all that matters. The public usually doesn't bother to look beyond the skin.

Back to the original question, my favorite brutalist building is Rudolph's Orange County Government Building in Goshen, NY. It's a classic.

By: mippy

mippy — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:02:29 -0800

Thank you for the link Carbide - I find it amusing that the housing estate I used to walk past to get to the doctor's, the Toast Rack (Hollins Campus) I passed on the bus to university and the shopping centre near work are all on lovely china.

By: ALongDecember

ALongDecember — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:04:27 -0800

An entire subculture on Carnegie Mellon's campus exists to those who love Wean Hall (and it's bottle-cap filled walls).

By: roofus

roofus — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:45:19 -0800

In the UK everything by Basil Spence is a brutalist classic, including the much derided Hyde Park Barracks, and Coventry Cathedral. His wikipedia page has a comprehensive list of his work.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:59:11 -0800

The Teresa Carreño theater complex in Caracas, Venezuela.

By: altolinguistic

altolinguistic — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:03:56 -0800

roofus, I don't think of Coventry Cathedral as brutalist at all - I don't know much about architectural theory but when I think of brutalism I think of Birmingham Library or the Brunswick Centre (mentioned above).

I think Coventry Cathedral makes too many concessions to its surroundings (it blends beautifully with the old bombed-out cathedral next door) to be truly Brutalist, though if architects describe it as such, who am I to argue?

tylerfulltilt, have you looked at this post on the Blue?

By: Daddy-O

Daddy-O — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:14:24 -0800

I always felt pretty brutalized by the original buildings at the University of TX at San Antonio. They always made me think of the fortified U-boat pens the Nazis built in France. The parts of the campus built since the 90's is much better.

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza in Albany.

Brutalism is hideous and soul crushing. I always assumed that it was dictated by budget constraints.

By: Schlimmbesserung

Schlimmbesserung — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:22:30 -0800

I lived in this bastard thing for two years of my undergrad. It's half a kilometre of riotproofed concrete goodness, and there's a persistent (if untrue) rumour that the architect used modified prison blueprints. Guelph has a few other brutalist charmers kicking around, too; look for the MacKinnon building, McLaughlin library, and University Centre on that site.

And oh Lord, seconding Robarts. My department is in there this year, and I lose a little bit of soul every time I approach that beast.

By: greycap

greycap — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:30:13 -0800

The old UK Home Office headquarters at 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London.

By: kittyprecious

kittyprecious — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:37:33 -0800

[Wurster] underwent a major seismic refit in the past ten years...

I said was.

By: strangeleftydoublethink

strangeleftydoublethink — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:58:44 -0800

Faner Hall at Southern Illinois University

By: LionIndex

LionIndex — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:01:54 -0800

and there's a persistent (if untrue) rumour that the architect used modified prison blueprints.

While possibly not false in this instance, there's a rumor like that about a building on every college campus in North America. It's one of the more common urban legends.

By: tylerfulltilt

tylerfulltilt — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:12:32 -0800

altolinguistic:

I saw that post, however, what I'm looking for is a more definite list of the buildings considered by critics to be the "best" example of the brutalist style.

By: Wet Spot

Wet Spot — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:01:43 -0800

The Worst Building in the History of Mankind, the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang.

By: beagle

beagle — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:25:25 -0800

a more definite list of the buildings considered by critics to be the "best" example of the brutalist style.

Heh, a Google search on "best.brutalist.building" yields exactly 27 results, but there are exactually only 11 results once dupes are eliminated.

Adding an "s" yields even fewer results (5), including this list of "best brutalist buildings" -- I'm not sure how it was compiled. It includes some already mentioned above.

Here's a serious blog post defending brutalism -- it includes the interesting fact that the name "brutalism" comes from French "brut" from "béton brut" (raw concrete), not from "brutal". So part of its problem is the unfortunate name.

By: bryanboyer

bryanboyer — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:32:49 -0800

Ando and Kahn are not considered Brutalists by legit architectural historians. As mentioned above, the term comes from Banham and he opens his book The New Brutalism with a discussion of the Hunstanton School by the Smithsons. In addition to citing the expansive use of beton brut (though not at Hunstanton), Banham discusses the rawness of detailing in New Brutalist buildings: in other words, they are assembled with no frills (fitting for schools and housing and the like).

By: Dr. Sam

Dr. Sam — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:24:52 -0800

Regarding the above-mentioned Yale Art + Architecture Building:

Apropos of this thread, it is actually featured in today's New York Times.

Henceforth to be known as Paul Rudolph Hall.