BRUTALISM

Posted on by Tobe Damit

Bold, Brutal Concrete

by Tobe Damit

Brutalism, perhaps the most reviled of all architectural styles, has seen a bit of a renaissance and it’s now cool to think of Brutalist buildings as forgotten masterpieces. There’s no denying that these striking, massive concrete buildings appear as bold and dramatic in black and white photos as they are austere,  dehumanizing and forbidding in real life.

 

Secretariat Building, Chandigarh, Punjab, India, 1950s (Le Corbusier)
Secretariat Building, Chandigarh, Punjab, India, 1950s (Le Corbusier)(2)
Secretariat Building, Chandigarh, Punjab, India, 1950s (Le Corbusier)(3)
Prefectural Youth Center, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 1963 (Kunio Maekawa)
Prefectural Youth Center, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 1963 (Kunio Maekawa)(2)
Dojima Redevelopment Plan, Osaka, Japan, 1962 (Fumihiko Maki)
Assembly Building, Chandigarh, India, 1956-62 (Le Corbusier)
Assembly Building, Chandigarh, India, 1956-62 (Le Corbusier)(2)
Nichinan Cultural Center, Nichinan, Japan, 1963 (Kenzo Tange)
Nichinan Cultural Center, Nichinan, Japan, 1963 (Kenzo Tange)(2)
Nichinan Cultural Center, Nichinan, Japan, 1963 (Kenzo Tange)(3)
Nichinan Cultural Center, Nichinan, Japan, 1963 (Kenzo Tange)(4)
Kure City Hall and Municipal Auditorium, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 1962 (Junzo Sakakura & Associates)
Kure City Hall and Municipal Auditorium, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 1962 (Junzo Sakakura & Associates)(2)
Totsuka Country Club House, Totsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 1963 (Kenzo Tange)
Totsuka Country Club House, Totsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 1963 (Kenzo Tange)(2)
Totsuka Country Club House, Totsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 1963 (Kenzo Tange)(3)
Totsuka Country Club House, Totsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 1963 (Kenzo Tange)(4)
Katsushika Ward Office, Tokyo, Japan, 1963 (Takeo Sato & Associates)
Katsushika Ward Office, Tokyo, Japan, 1963 (Takeo Sato & Associates)(2)
Katsushika Ward Office, Tokyo, Japan, 1963(Takeo Sato & Associates)(3)
Katsushika Ward Office, Tokyo, Japan, 1963 (Takeo Sato & Associates)(4)
The Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate ‘Rowley Way’, Camden, 1968-1979 (Neave Brown)
The Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate ‘Rowley Way’, Camden, 1968-1979 (Neave Brown)(2)
The Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate ‘Rowley Way’, Camden, 1968-1979 (Neave Brown)(3)
Retirement Home, Munich, Germany, 1971 (Peter Seifert)
Birmingham Central Library, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK,1974 (John Madin)
“Girondelle” Terraced Housing Complex, Bochum, Germany, 1972 (Albin Henning)
“Girondelle” Terraced Housing Complex, Bochum, Germany, 1972 (Albin Henning)(2)
Habitat 67, Housing complex in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1967 (Moshe Safdie)
Habitat 67, Housing complex in Montreal, Quebec, Canada 1967 (Moshe Safdie)(2)
Rest Home Tokai Senko Company, Ise-Shima National Park, Japan, 1971 (Aoshima Inc.)
Rest Home Tokai Senko Company, Ise-Shima National Park, Japan, 1971 (Aoshima Inc.)(2)
Rest Home Tokai Senko Company, Ise-Shima National Park, Japan, 1971 (Aoshima Inc.)(3)
Faculty of Literature, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, 1962 (Murano & Mori)
Faculty of Literature, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, 1962 (Murano & Mori)(2)
Faculty of Literature, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, 1962 (Murano & Mori)(3)
Faculty of Literature, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, 1962 (Murano & Mori)(4)
Faculty of Literature, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, 1962 (Murano & Mori)(5)
Government Service Center, Boston, Massachusetts, 1964-72 (Paul Rudolph)
Oita Prefectural Office, Japan, 1963 (Kyushu Regional Bureau Ministry of Construction)
Oita Prefectural Office, Japan, 1963 (Kyushu Regional Bureau Ministry of Construction)(2)
Oita Prefectural Office, Japan, 1963 (Kyushu Regional Bureau Ministry of Construction)(3)
Oita Prefectural Office, Japan, 1963 (Kyushu Regional Bureau Ministry of Construction)(4)
IBM Research Center, La Gaude, France, 1960-63 (Marcel Breuer & Associates)
IBM Research Center, La Gaude, France, 1960-63 (Marcel Breuer & Associates)(2)
IBM Research Center, La Gaude, France, 1960-63 (Marcel Breuer & Associates)(3)
IBM Research Center, La Gaude, France, 1960-63 (Marcel Breuer & Associates)(4)
IBM Research Center, La Gaude, France, 1960-63 (Marcel Breuer & Associates)(5)
Kagawa Prefectural Library, Takamatsu, Japan, 1963 (Yoshinobu Ashihara & Associates)
Kagawa Prefectural Library, Takamatsu, Japan, 1963 (Yoshinobu Ashihara & Associates)(2)
Faculty of Architecture from the University of Porto, Portugal, 1992 (Álvaro Siza Vieira)
Yale University’s Art and Architecture Building 1963 (Paul Rudolph)
Research Center for Toyo Rayon Company, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, 1963 (Junzo Sakakura & Associates)
The Geisel Library, University of California San Diego.(Photo Credit: USD)
Concert Hall, Takasaki, Japan, 1960s (Antonin Raymond and L.L. Rado)
Pilgrimage Church, Neviges, Germany, 1965-68 (Gottfried Böhm)
Church Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil (1932-57) in Lourtier, Switzerland (Alberto Sartoris)
Dormitory, St. John’s Preparatory School, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1960s (Val Michelson & Associates)
Reading Space, Jinhua Architecture Park, Jinhua, China, 2006 (Herzog & de Meuron)
The Breuer Building, New York, 1966 (Marcel Breuer)
Jenaro Valverde Marín Building, CCSS, San José, Costa Rica, 1976 (Alberto Linner Díaz)

Now these are just a few examples and if you want more, I would encourage you to buy a book called ”This Brutal World” by Peter Chadwick. There’s an incredible amount of these impressive massive buildings scattered all around the world.  You will also find a huge quantity of brutalist architecture on the net.

9 thoughts on “BRUTALISM”

  1. Pingback: BRUTAL — Loud Alien Noize | Graatass's Blog

    1. Its very nice to look at indeed. Maybe some are even ”ok” to work at or study but like..Only for a couple of years or so…. It does make some outstanding b&W pictures though like you said! Spmetimes modernism is very close to brutalism too.. I think some of the buildings I posted would be considered as modernism but…They also made awesome pictures roo so I just couldn’t resist.. I was thinking of a contest in which everyone would post a brutalist building from where they live… Could have been fun….

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Dear Tobe Damit,

    I was using the wordpress blog so far. and was getting all your posts reported. Now I have changed over to mikerana.com. It is a blog made using the wordpress. I would not like to lose your connection.

    Please visit this log and tell me if you have any difficulty.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Pingback: The Blade of Brutalism – Loud Alien Noize

    1. Wow kool!! I wrote another article on brutalism called The Blade of Brutalism. I also noticed another movie called Anon in which the sets are derived from Brutalism. I don’t know if the trend will keep on growing but I sure hope so!

      Liked by 1 person

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