Brutalist Architecture Discussion Thread!

[slightlyslack 20]

Another view of the Johnson:

align=baseline>

[slightlyslack 20]

Tangentially related:

This is a poured-concrete sculpture garden in the Plantations area to the north and east of the Cornell campus.  It has a wind harp too, so there's a very interesting vibe to the whole thing.http://streetcar.cc/~frank/images/Photos/WatkinsGlen/plantations3.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

[slightlyslack 20]

OK, one last Cornell building.  This is Bradfield Hall, one of the principal life sciences facilities on the campus.  It is by far the tallest building on campus (considerably higher than the clock tower that is the university's signature building) and easily the most sinister, since it has only one or two windows per floor!  It cannot even be entered directly, as it is actually an annex of a smaller building that one must pass through to reach it.  Like most of the Brutalist buildings at Cornell, it is clad in red brick for a more traditional campus look.

 

http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/news_events/ParadeMay12/bradfield2.jpg align=baseline>

[ExiL3 10]

LOL, I kinda think brutalist buildings look kinda cool in a way, but those just look hilarious! (the statues) *pointing and laughing*

take care

[slightlyslack 20]

Yeah, the statues are kinda silly, but they were installed in the mid-'60s.  Everyone was silly then.

[calm_blue_sea 3]

Here's an odd one. This is the University of Toronto's Robarts library. It's shaped like a massive peacock: the non functional tower (actually I believe it's part of the ventilation system) in the foreground of the first pic is the head, while the second photo is a rear corner view of the 'plumage'. The building was completed in 1973, is 14 stories high, and contains over 10 million books. Back in my undergrad years it was sometimes affectionately referred to as Fort Book.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Robarts_front_750px.jpeg align=baseline>

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//748px-Robarts_corner_750px.jpeg.jpg align=baseline>

[Compromise 1]

That university building is strange but dosen't look like to much of a eyesore.

[GingerBlokey 30]

That building it had to be said is one of my favorites ever.

[calm_blue_sea 3]

University campuses seem to love this style. Here is a library from the University of Western Ontario located in London, Ontario (Canada). It doesn't get much more brutal than this!

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//london.jpg align=baseline>

 

The round tower on the corner is a stairwell.

[GaryReggae 80]

Oh yes, I like that Ontario University building!

I was in London on Saturday so I took the opportunity to photograph some fine Brutalist architecture there:

Here is just a selection, you can see all of the photos here: http://www.garyreggae.co.uk/photos/london6aug2005.htm

The back of Centrepoint, Tottenham Court Road. A very Brutalist facade!!!



Close up detail of Smithfield Poultry Market, although it's out of shot, this building features one of the finest concrete domed parabolic shell roofs in Europe. Unfortunately, it is threatened with demolition, along with the magnificent adjoining Victorian buildings that make up the older part of the market complex.



Great Arthur House, part of the Golden Lane Estate, immediately north of The Barbican and an earlier project by the same architectural practice. The roof is clearly inspired by Le Corbusier's Indian buildings.



The Barbican Arts Centre, a labyrinth of passageways and corridors and fortunately, a listed structure and more or less totally intact although the original direction signs have been replaced with ones that use the font used in cult 60s TV series 'The Prisoner'. How ironic!!!



A view of the main entrance to Trellick Tower, W10. Once a haven for crime, this fine Brutalist monument by tragic architect Hugo Goldfinger is now a highly sought after address.



Another view of Trellick Tower:



BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush. I was intending to take a lot of photos of this building but the place was crawling with Security Guards and CCTV cameras so I didn't dare get too close to it in case they thought I was acting suspiciously. Anyway, this building isn't really Brutalist except for the East Tower, a later addition to the original 1950s 'Concrete Doughnut' design, however lots of bits have been added on since the complex opened so it is now a confusing hotchpotch of different architectural styles.

I did have a photo of the front of TVC too but I accidentially deleted it from the camera, if anyone knows of any good (freeware!) undelete utilities I would be eternally grateful!



The Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, Lambeth. This is an imfamous structure and it will almost certainly be reveloped in the near future. It doesn't look that Brutalist any more thanks to the cladding but it was opened in the 1960s as can be seen from the mid-rise office block, which bears a striking resemblence to Granada's offices in Manchester.



Close-up of some Brutalist flats near Elephant & Castle:



Some Corbusier-inspired flats in Lambeth:



Very utilitarian flats in Lambeth:



A VERY interesting Brutalist design can be seen in this block of flats, again, in Lambeth (actually there are two or three of these blocks!)



Some more 60s flats in Lambeth:



There are also some very interesting Brutalist walk-up flats next to the railway line somewhere near Vauxhall or Waterloo, I was going to go and have a closer look but ran out of time. Maybe next time.

[siqitornto 0]

Weird deja vu...I actually saw that infamous building around Elephant & castle on my trip to london last year.  It was somehow fitting for the surroundings--a rather stagnant pre-gentrification neighbourhood.

It's a shame that London was heavily bombed in the 40s and had to build back up fast in the 50s and 60s.  A lot of garbage came out of that era.  Nowadays you have the real landmarks like the Tate Modern and 30 St. Mary Axe, but back then architects just made less sense.

[slightlyslack 20]

The fact that Brutalist architecture is largely limited to university buildings and public housing projects in the United States is a direct result of so many of its practitioners' rejection of the aesthetic principles held dear by the vast majority of citizens.  It's academically interesting, to be sure, but most people don't like to have their ideals confronted on a regular basis, and there are few styles more directly confrontational than Brutalism.

Interesting to see the disconnect between the modernist and postmodernist paradigms in architecture and other fields of thought, though: postmodern feminism, in particular, strives to obliterate bourgeois values, while postmodern architecture often embraces them.

 

Gosh, it's getting stinkily academic up in here.

[slightlyslack 20]

So I've been looking for a new apartment, and driving around L.A. I've noticed something: a lot of newer apartment buildings (~1990-today) are built in a conspicuously Brutalist fashion.  However, the Brutalism is camouflaged by the thick layer of stucco that has clad virtually every residence built in Los Angeles from ~1930 onward.  Brutalist buildings can actually be quite sexy when they have a nice cream or peach color to them and are surrounded by palm trees and blindingly green lawns.  I'll try to get some pictures posted sometime in the next few days.

[p2h5 3]

The Gateshead Carpark (Newcastle, UK):

 

 

 

nice

[AddisonWesley 2]

Brutal.

[Hanson784 165]

Here's an interesting brutalist builiding, the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

www.nyc-architecture.com/CHE/CHE020-FashionInstituteofTechnology.htm

[hello_SC4 1]

Here are two nice brutalist buildings in Ljubljana, TR2 and TR3 (they're twin towers, kinda). TR stands for Trg republike (Square of the Republic), the name of the square the skyscrapers are on.

 

TR3

http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=113446

 

TR3 to the left, TR2, to the right

http://www.ljubljana.si/file/128716/file.html align=baseline>

 

TR3 on the right, TR2 on the left.

align=baseline>

 

 

 

[elle_driver 2]

Preston Bus Station in Lancashire, England. Pic 3 shows how big and brutal it really is and totally out of touch with the surrounding buildings. It is to be demolished in a few years.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//bus1.jpg align=baseline>

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//bus2.jpg align=baseline>

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//bus3.JPG align=baseline>

[GaryReggae 80]

No, they can't demolish Preston Bus Station!!! It's historic. It has a unique design and I've seen this building before on the 20th Century Society's 'Risky Buildings' website. The Tricorn has gone, the Get Carter car park will soon be gone and so will Preston car park/bus station, all similiarly designed car parks. Disgraceful!!! The developers might as well go and pull down all Britain's historic castles and Tudor buildings, after all, they could make a fortune out of building yuppie flats there instead. OK so Brutalist buildings are not NEARLY as old but they are part of our history just the same. In the 60s, a lot of Victorian buildings such as Euston Arch were demolished as they were then seen as ugly. These days, that is seen as a mistake. Hast developers out to make a quick buck should think again and whoever it is that decided on listed budilings needs a damn good kick up the um...donkey!!!

Sorry, this subject makes me mad.

On another subject, does anyone here know anything about the ATV Centre? This television centre in Birmingham was, at the time, the world's most advanced TV studio and indeed the world's first TVC purpose-built for colour transmission. It has been empty since 1996 apparantly and I assume it went the way of the old Bullring but if anyone knows if it's still there or has any pics of it, I'd be delighted. If it's still there, I am going to go and comprehensively photograph it but unfortunately I think I'm too late. It was part of television history but due to corporate cost-cutting at Carlton, it was axed. The Meridian studios in Southampton are much the same (if anyone's interested, I'll post the photos I recently took there), they've been empty since about February when Meridian moved from a deluxe purpose built TV facility to an average office block with a broom cupboard for broadcasting. No wonder TV these days is so naff, all the studios have been closed. There were plans to build yuppie flats (my goodness, how original) on the site but fortunately, it's still there, albeit with boarded up windows. A sad sight indeed considering nearly 50 years of TV heritage. Even the BBC are contracting out more and more TV production, a common practice within most industries nowadays. There are threats over Television Centre apparantly, with the BBc having moved out many of their administrative functions to their exceedingly bland new White City office building. TVC is Grade II listed I think but that really means nothing nowadays. If the developers want it, they'll get it. The council no doubt desperately need housing sites. The developers sweeten their budget with lots of money.

I work in a semi-Brutalist office development, certainly it was built in the late 60s. It is a fine example of 1960s government buildings but plans are afoot to relocate the organisation to a new building. Again, the likes of Barratt are sniffing around yet this is a perfectly good, structurally sound office building. A part of the building was surplus to requirements so was let to another government organisation. They refurbished it and it's now as good as any contempory development. The same could be done for where I work. It is also historic. The staff restaurant features a unique parabolic shell dome roof but it will soon all be gone. It could easily be refurbished but in the throwaway society we live in, it's apparantly better to spend a lot more money, time and energy on demolishing it and rebuilding.

Sorry for this rant but it really annoys me, both from a preservation of historic resources perspective and from an environmental perspective.

[Emozo 0]

i thought the gateshead carpark was a listed building and therefor will not be demolished for a long time.

whilst i agree that unique or historical buildings should not be demolished you have to remember that many perfectly decent looking buildings were demolished to make way for the present day towerblocks which are of no better quality. if we go through life keeping every old building the entire country will be covered in empty abandoned shells, some times buildings have to be demolished to keep things moving. cities are dynamic places and by keeping old architecture you are smuthering the creative potential of present day designers, architects and engineers. if we dont keep moving we will have nothing to show for the advancements that this generation has made, that i think will be worse.

[wallasey 8]

Date: 8/23/2005 6:33:30 PM
Author: GaryReggae
No, they can't demolish Preston Bus Station!!! It's historic. It has a unique design and I've seen this building before on the 20th Century Society's 'Risky Buildings' website. The Tricorn has gone, the Get Carter car park will soon be gone and so will Preston car park/bus station, all similiarly designed car parks. Disgraceful!!! The developers might as well go and pull down all Britain's historic castles and Tudor buildings, after all, they could make a fortune out of building yuppie flats there instead. OK so Brutalist buildings are not NEARLY as old but they are part of our history just the same. In the 60s, a lot of Victorian buildings such as Euston Arch were demolished as they were then seen as ugly. These days, that is seen as a mistake. Hast developers out to make a quick buck should think again and whoever it is that decided on listed budilings needs a damn good kick up the um...donkey!!!

Sorry for this rant but it really annoys me, both from a preservation of historic resources perspective and from an environmental perspective.

quote>

Dont Worry! Nelson bus Station still surives! infact it was on a Northwest tonight pool to be demolished. Paradise Street Bus Station in Liverpool is going to be knocked down too (this includes the ugly NCP car park.

Shude Hill Bus Station in Manchester is also going too but I don't have have any piccies.

What annoys me is the needless demoltion of our beloved terraced housing stock!

[GingerBlokey 30]

Norwich Sirrey Street Bus Stop was recently demolished and replaced with a new one which isnt that bad but I would have prefered to see the first one stay.

Before:


After:

[GAT-X105 3]

What? Big ugly bus stations?

You can't not mention New York's infamous Port Authority Bus Terminal!



It's huge, and only one block away from Times Square. It is located just outside the exit to the Lincoln Tunnel, so it is mostly used by commuters from New Jersey and long distance buses coming from points west. (Which is about 90% of the US.)



Originally, the station looked like this. I think it was built in the 50s. It's been massively expanded, I'm guessing in the 70s. It's completely unrecognizeable now.



The terminal spans 41st Street, and under there is pretty dark. I guess that reminded someone of the ocean. There's a mural of whales on the walls under the overpass.



The place is huge and complicated, I always get lost inside.

[hdorriker 190]

My gosh that toronto university library!

 

If only the CSU campus had a library like that!

 

(We got stuck with the most ugly, seriously ugly. I mean reeeaaallllyyy freaking ugly and dreary piece of architecture ever constructed. The original library was okay, but then they remodelled it and DESTROYED the whole well lit thing and made this albatross.)

http://lib.colostate.edu/news/morganart/outsidelib.gif width=449 border=0>

(This picture makes it look a lot better then it ever looks. That is because you can't see the shadow that it casts over the WHOLE commons area in front 8 months out of the year.)

 

I suppose this is as Orwellian as *hardcore* postmodernism gets.

 

Funny, I consider this style to quite polar opposite in style to Brutalism, yet it seems to accomplish the same feeling in those who see it everyday as brutalism does for most people.

 

 

 

I probably just have weird taste

[andrewcrocker 0]

hdorriker :: I must disagree. I'm a student at CSU, and you managed to find the most unfortunate photo of an otherwise 'ok' building. I agree that the front is a bit bland. but the side with the large open glass wall is really quite nice.

Of course the inside is really where that building shines. it feels open and luminous. the light in there is really quite amazing, and perfect for a library. The west facing 30 (guessing 30) foot high window is perfect for the colorado views.

What I really like, though, is the new facade of the Lory center right across the way. All those new buildings match so well.

[rp2005 165]

Date: 8/23/2005 6:33:30 PM Author: GaryReggae   A part of the building was surplus to requirements so was let to another government organisation.  They refurbished it and it's now as good as any contempory development.  The same could be done for where I work.  It is also historic.  The staff restaurant features a unique parabolic shell dome roof but it will soon all be gone.  It could easily be refurbished but in the throwaway society we live in, it's apparantly better to spend a lot more money, time and energy on demolishing it and rebuilding.

Sorry for this rant but it really annoys me, both from a preservation of historic resources perspective and from an environmental perspective.

quote>

 

It's largely a result of the fact that society is now being run almost exclusively for the benefit of big business.  Whilst it is often far more environmentally friendly and generally cheaper to refurbish old buildings the needs of the big construction firms and the fact that they have their claws deep into government means that given the choice between refurbishment and rebuilding the latter is most likely to happen.

 

There's more profit in a big development and it's far easier to do newbuild on a clear site than to have to work on an existing building.

 

There's a classic example from, I think, Birmingham that is often quoted of a city centre hostpital that needed refurbishment.  Instead the site was sold to developers and a new hospital was built on a greenfield out-of-town site at 10x the cost.  This is not an isolated example.

 

A more sinister consequence is that 'redeveloping a run down area' is often a synonym for destroying a poor community and dispersing the residents to other areas.  This is especially true where a poor area happens to be in a prime location for office space or yuppie flats - think riverside or the edge of an existing town centre.

 

[Wolf_pt 7]

The Lisbon Oceanarium

 

[Compromise 1]

One good example of peaple hating Brutalist architectare is with the Tricorn in Portsmouth. It is gone now but made quite a seen when it was demolished.

http://www.rmaz.co.uk/tricorn.html

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/southampton/webcams/tricorn.shtml

[GaryReggae 80]

Yes, The Tricorn, one of my favourite buildings ever.



All that's left of it is a bridge over a road. It was one of the best examples of Brutalist architecture in the UK and it was extremely unique. I have acquired some plans and elevation drawings of it so I am going to attempt to BAT it at some point but it's a pretty big megastructure!

Anyway, I was in London yesterday, I didn't get many photos as the batteries in my camera were knackered but here are some interesting Brutalist structures I saw:

This is a Brutalist church opposite the Science Museum in Kensington.


I think this is the Ismali Institute but it's near the Natural History Museum:



I don't know what this building is but close up, it's a real monster! I passed by it on my way to Borough High Street from London Bridge tube station.

[louisville327 0]

The ever-offensive Jefferson County Halls Of Justice in Louisville, KY. Yet another brutalist monstrosity.

The Louisville Free Public Library's main branch also has a north addition built in the brutalist style. It, too, is ugly as hell.