Brutalist architecture

[Azamat]

A highly unpopular architectural style that I happen to like. Both for the cultural/psychological implications and the aesthetics of these buildings alone, I prefer them greatly over the post-modern styles that praise irregularities so as to embody individualistic values, as well as the Graeco-Roman or "Classical" style after which many large/important tend to be modeled, like the Capitol and the White House in Washington, which emit a sense of elitism and "high culture" rather than the utilitarian collectivism of the following structures:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2SxAwHYiiRc/UMTF8_nOmyI/AAAAAAAAAOY/nRXV3RQI4n4/s640/191236320cdf9d028d7oej4.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-z0ESKBfMy8/THwbZTk_UBI/AAAAAAAACHg/9Q0Io09OJ3Q/s400/brutalist3.jpg
http://cdn.yomadic.com/wp-content/uploads/student-dorm-communist-era-brutalist-architecture.jpg
http://ceethrough.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dsc_0308.jpg
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb400/IzarbatG/ScreenHunter_616Oct250107_zps7b5be765.jpg (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/IzarbatG/media/ScreenHunter_616Oct250107_zps7b5be765.jpg.html)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7120/8166646583_d6f50ce777_z.jpg
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/34423550.jpg
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&drKey=1082&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fs1.zetaboards.com%2Fanthroscape%2 Ftopic%2F5187005%2F1%2F&v=1&libId=2d9ef4f0-6396-4cae-87eb-569a8470371d&out=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia% 2Fcommons%2F9%2F97%2FBogot%25C3%25A1_Urbanizaci%25 C3%25B3n_Antonio_Nari%25C3%25B1o.JPG&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fs1.zetaboards.com%2Fanthroscape%2 Fforum%2F157152%2F&title=Do%20you%20like%20Brutalist%20architecture%3 F&txt=This%20image%20has%20been%20compressed.%20Clic k%20to%20view%20the%20full-size%20version.&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13764268293418
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Trellick_Tower2.jpg
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&drKey=1082&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fs1.zetaboards.com%2Fanthroscape%2 Ftopic%2F5187005%2F1%2F&v=1&libId=2d9ef4f0-6396-4cae-87eb-569a8470371d&out=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia% 2Fcommons%2Ff%2Ff6%2FRoyal_Liverpool_Hospital.jpg&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fs1.zetaboards.com%2Fanthroscape%2 Fforum%2F157152%2F&title=Do%20you%20like%20Brutalist%20architecture%3 F&txt=This%20image%20has%20been%20compressed.%20Clic k%20to%20view%20the%20full-size%20version.&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_137642689653712
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/138/373752308_fb455d6b81_b.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/55rp50.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/CrazySerb/bg2.jpg
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/5309/30869436.28/0_5bb53_79507be7_XXXL.jpg
http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/10869742.jpg
http://latinonewstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/pyongyang.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Rybnitsa.jpg
http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/archives/HER02_web.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/818/li6j.jpg

[Azamat]

More examples.

http://rustnconcrete.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/untitled-10.jpg
http://icilantrocilantro.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/img_0263.jpg
http://0.tqn.com/d/architecture/1/0/r/P/01_Mendes.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4686291733_9877b69690.jpg
http://www.richardalois.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/brutalism-london.jpg
http://www.essential-humanities.net/images/arch7_48.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TclqVwkQD7U/Tudy9S2fBiI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/Vxa9eRnlUuU/s400/5soucoupe.jpg

[mr. logan]

I like it.

[Not a Cop]

Generally i like it, but it's overrepresented in Russia and connected with Totalitarism so it should be mixed with more softed-linened styles, otherwise i will get
an instant feeling of
http://s019.radikal.ru/i616/1309/4f/f8f528da6c10.png (http://radikal.ru/fp/cfa9ababea034a729cf5375241721b7e)

[Lena]

A highly unpopular architectural style that I happen to like. Both for the cultural/psychological implications and the aesthetics of these buildings alone, I prefer them greatly over the post-modern styles that praise irregularities so as to embody individualistic values, as well as the Graeco-Roman or "Classical" style after which many large/important tend to be modeled, like the Capitol and the White House in Washington, which emit a sense of elitism and "high culture" rather than the utilitarian collectivism of the following structures:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/CrazySerb/bg2.jpg


^ Blocks in Belgrade, 72 in total, were built after WWII, during second half of 40's and 50's, before Brutalist archi style flourished. The objective was to accommodate as many ppl as possible in a very short amount of time-concrete and clean, vertical structural lines allowed it.

[hobosmurf]

I used to prefer this style for the ideological and cultural value of utilitarianism as well, now I don't though

[Smaug]

It is nice, I just think it should be used with moderation, too much brutalist buildings in a single area give a 1984 vibe like Not a Cop said.

[larali]

There is something beautiful about the chunkiness and robustness of the architecture. But being an acropobic (afraid of heights) I don't like the balconies/ levels that hang over empty space. It looks both scary and illogical.

I would not want to raise a young child in an apartment building such as the ones shown. They look dangerous.

[Graham]

Hate it. Every one of them, should be demolished.

[tEhSaint]

commie shite

[RussiaPrussia]

commie shite

which was invented in germany

[Minesweeper]

Cities in Serbia are full of it. New Belgrade being the crown of Yugoslav brutalism and is only architectural style present in entire community which is half of the city, almost.

Objects built in that style tend to be huge and futuristic and that's what makes it interesting for some people, including myself. However, the bad thing about the style is it's dominance. It just kills the presence of other styles and makes the surrounding gray and depressive. Something that suits Gothic architecture much better imo.

[RussiaPrussia]

today in tv i saw they plan to make them out of wood in the future to look less depressing and encouraging rich people to move there too

http://www.baulinks.de/webplugin/2012/i/2260-woodcube2.jpg

[Azamat]

I'm surprised there are so many users here who appreciate this style. I opened this same thread on Anthroscape, and while it got more reactions than here, the opinions were consistently negative.

today in tv i saw they plan to make them out of wood in the future to look less depressing and encouraging rich people to move there tooIt's post-modern buildings like these that I find depressing, rather than, for most people, Brutalist and Modernist designs. Not only because I find their construction materials, excessive colours and irregular shapes ugly, also because they remind me of the establishment and the middle-class - a world I want nothing to do with.

The rough concrete exteriors of Brutalist buildings on the other hand, has a very mystical air to it and is reminiscent of a past age, when authority was still concentrated higher up and thus average citizens lived and worked amongst each other as equals, rather than emphasizing their differences and individuality as they do today. Associating with Brutalism in this day and age is like a form of escapism I guess.

[Herr Abubu]

A highly unpopular architectural style that I happen to like. Both for the cultural/psychological implications and the aesthetics of these buildings alone, I prefer them greatly over the post-modern styles that praise irregularities so as to embody individualistic values, as well as the Graeco-Roman or "Classical" style after which many large/important tend to be modeled, like the Capitol and the White House in Washington, which emit a sense of elitism and "high culture" rather than the utilitarian collectivism of the following structures: [Absolute monstrosities]

Şêrzat,

This might sound harsh, but it is not. You have deserved it. I am being very soft on you. There is no bad will.

To put it bluntly, I could not disagree more, and that goes for every single reason you stated. The Brutalist is the absolute lowpoint of human architecture and the values it embodies are the absolute lowpoints of human thought. I do not think there is any architectural style originating before the 20th that I do not admire.

Your words are pleonasms. That you are not fond of the elite and high culture is obvious from the start of - why else would you like Brutalist architecture? That you concede that your taste is low--abased--is admirable. You do not understand your place, however - because if you did, you would not have made this thread.

What you do not see is that there is nothing utilitarian about these structures. It makes no one happy, except for people of the poorest aesthetic sense, but whatever thing makes these people unhappy is in itself the most utilitarian most moral thing. Rather, than representing utilitarianism it is a failed attempt at representing it and being it. Thus it represents failure and incompetence.

Nonetheless, you are correct on one thing: it does represent collectivism. This it does just as splendidly as concentration camps and gulags. Yes, collectivism - the embracement of all that is low, feable and bad. That is one of the few things it manages to do. Other than competence in incompetence, it competently represents all the lowest values and virtues.

Best regards,

Herr Abubu
Lover of all that is good

[Germaniac]

To me, the apex of architecture is the neo-classical style, much used by the NSDAP.

[Herr Abubu]

To me, the apex of architecture is the neo-classical style, much used by the NSDAP.

The Nazis, while collectivists, were at least at the same time elitists and favoured high culture. Knowing this it should not be a surprise that they had far better taste than the Communists. And it is only in modern times that it has changed. The inclusion of low elements in the Nazi movements have made them just as bad as the Communists now.

[Germaniac]

The Nazis, while collectivists, were at least at the same time elitists and favoured high culture. Knowing this it should not be a surprise that they had far better taste than the Communists. And it is only in modern times that it has changed. The inclusion of low elements in the Nazi movements have made them just as bad as the Communists now.

Traditional, classic, elitist, traditionalist National-Socialism is dead now. That's one of the reasons I'd classify myself as a nostalgic sympathiser of NS, for I don't identify myself with the current strains of it. Many Neonazis are strasserists anyway, and to me, strasserism is just a racist communism.

[Azamat]

The Nazis, while collectivists, were at least at the same time elitists and favoured high culture. Knowing this it should not be a surprise that they had far better taste than the Communists. And it is only in modern times that it has changed. The inclusion of low elements in the Nazi movements have made them just as bad as the Communists now."Better taste" is your value judgement, as was your entire reply to me. There is nothing in it for me to refute.

Many Neonazis are strasserists anyway, and to me, strasserism is just a racist communism.It reveals you support capitalism. Not at all unexpected for a Nazi/Nazi sympathizer, their hollow and pathetically superficial "critique" of capitalism notwithstanding.

[Germaniac]

I live in a capitalist society, and I would never accept to have my property and my family's property to be stolen by the government. I am completely against communism, and I prefer capitalism over communism any day. Classic National-Socialism only worked because it allowed a great deal of economic freedom compared with other socialist strains. I've always been told I am too much of a conservative to be a hardcore National-Socialist anyway, and sincerely, I couldn't care less about other people's opinions. What I like the most about NS anyway is the nationalistic part of it.

[Herr Abubu]

"Better taste" is your value judgement, as was your entire reply to me. There is nothing in it for me to refute.

No, they are truths that I happen to value and want to share. There is something such as objectively good and bad in aesthetics. Brutalist architecture is objectively horrid, in the same way Shit in a Can (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist%27s_Shit) is.

I'll quote Schopenhauer to make a point, "…aesthetic pleasure in the beautiful consists, to a large extent, in the fact that, when we enter the state of pure contemplation, we are raised for the moment above all willing, above all desires and cares; we are, so to speak, rid of ourselves." Schopenhauer's view was that aesthetic pleasure takes us momentarily removes the ego and makes us forget the pessimism and the pain inherent in existing. Brutalist architecture is not beautiful and that's a huge understatement. The only aesthetic pleasure it could possibly induce is the same that torture would induce in a sadomasochist.

[Farah]

I feel depressed just looking at the pictures. Can't imagine I could survive or adapt to living in such surroundings. This form of architecture is overwhelmingly gloomy/dark and imposing. these buildings give a sense of emptiness and disconnection.

[Pjeter Pan]

Ugly imo

[Jackson]

I like the highly angular, diagonalish ones. But all the rest should be burned, burned with fire. :P

[hisn]

http://media.medias.rs/upload/photos/5i4bi22l.jpg
lnhuman structures with no traditional rooting require an aura of neutrality or the effect will feel harsh.. This building isn't too far from where l live; its surrounded with natural landscape so to cull the acrylic artificiality. Not dissimilar to the modern silos and barns nearabout. Rural, overlooking a cherry orchard -without rows of residential units every which way, casting off threatening shadows.. '^,^`not to infer l'd enjoy living as if encased by cellophane, some old fashioned cottage would be preferred..

http://www.livingsteel.org/sites/default/files/chameleon_main01.jpg

[Baluarte]

Pretty dull and reminiscent of worker lumpen.

The only two architectural sources that have ever been sublime are Classic-Renaissance-Neoclassic, Greco-Roman style; and Gothic-Neogothic medieval.

Curious combinations like Barocco are rich if you can handle the excess.


Both communist and contemporary architecture are merely functional and for the most part used for a short period of time.

[Gaston]

I lived in that kind of neighborhood for nearly one year and I was depressed all the time. And it wasn't very utilitarian actually. Worst year of my life.

[Minesweeper]

From Belgrade, there's some degree of coolness in it, I have to admit. ;)

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7119/281955.jpg

[Szegedist]

It reeks of communism, and it spoiled the landscape of many cities, towns.

[Lena]

From Belgrade, there's some degree of coolness in it, I have to admit. ;)



It's an Eastern Gate of Belgrade-Rudo. Cool when elevators work :P
:wink

Western Gate- Genex tower, is also designed in Brutalist archi style

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Novi_Beograd_-_West_Gate_02.jpg/800px-Novi_Beograd_-_West_Gate_02.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Novi_Beograd_-_West_Gate_03.jpg/450px-Novi_Beograd_-_West_Gate_03.jpg

[Minesweeper]

It reeks of communism, and it spoiled the landscape of many cities, towns.

But look at modern trends in architecture. It's a brutalist revival in capitalist countries. ;)

It's not the style that sucks, it's the over usage that does.

[Szegedist]

But look at modern trends in architecture. It's a brutalist revival in capitalist countries. ;)

It's not the style that sucks, it's the over usage that does.

No, the style itself does suck. ;)

[Minesweeper]

No, the style itself does suck. ;)

Well, it's a matter of taste. Yugoslav brutalism had some interesting forms and shapes that look quite futuristic, even today.

[Szegedist]

Well, it's a matter of taste.
You are right, good taste and bad taste ;)


For me it is a terrible sight, when I go to some historic town, full of historic architecture, and then I see these big gray panelhouses that just scream depression and ruin the whole sight
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/hu/c/ca/Bekasmegyer.panel.JPG

[Minesweeper]

You are right, good taste and bad taste ;)


For me it is a terrible sight, when I go to some historic town, full of historic architecture, and then I see these big gray panelhouses that just scream depression and ruin the whole sight
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/hu/c/ca/Bekasmegyer.panel.JPG

Those blocks suck, out of question.

But look at this communist monument, in the middle of nowhere. I find it very interesting.

http://i.imgur.com/McEuLDoh.jpg

[Szegedist]

For Great clip about Brutalist Architecture, watch the first 3 minutes of this Soviet FIlm!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVpmZnRIMKs

[Graham]

Here is a challenge. Find a nice set of 'high rise commie blocks', & post the picture.

pfffft Good luck with that.

[Lena]

Here is a challenge. Find a nice set of 'high rise commie blocks', & post the picture.

pfffft Good luck with that.

In my city

http://images2.kurir-info.rs/slika-900x608/beograd-novi-beograd-parkovi-poziv-izgradnja-1328585176-119506.jpg

http://www.novosti.rs/upload/images/2011/04/0504/bg-park.jpg

[Cleitus]

Nice