Brutalism Resurgent

Brutalism had its origins in béton brut – concrete in the raw – and thus in the post-war work of Le Corbusier. The British architects Alison and Peter Smithson used the term "New Brutalism" from 1953, claiming that if their house in Soho had been built, "it would have been the first exponent of the ‘New Brutalism’ in England". Reyner Banham famously gave the movement a series of characteristics, including the clear expression of a building’s structure and services, and the honest use of materials in their "as-found" condition. The Smithsons and Banham promoted the New Brutalism as ethic rather than aesthetic, privileging truth to structure, materials and services and the gritty reality of the working classes over the concerns of the bourgeoisie. But Brutalist architecture changed as it was taken up by others, giving rise to more sculptural buildings flaunting their raw materials, including off-form concrete, often in conjunction with bold structural members. While Brutalism fell out of vogue in the 1980s, recent years have seen renewed admiration for it. This volume is consistent with this broader resurgence, presenting new scholarship on Brutalist architects and projects from Skopje to Sydney, and from Harvard to Haringey. It will appeal to readers interested in twentieth-century architecture, and modern and post-war heritage. This book was originally published as a special issue of Fabrications: the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand.

This book tracks the development of Marcel Breuer’s aesthetic clash between uniformity and singularity through the detailed examination of his seminal buildings. Each chapter examines a specific building and puts into context Breuer’s other work and the contemporary movements/architects of the post-war era such as Surrealism, Brutalism and structural expressionism. The buildings examined include the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, of 1958; the IBM Research Center in Le Gaude, France, of 1962; the Annunciation Priory in Bismark, North Dakota, of 1963; and the Atlanta Central Library of 1980. Marcel Breuer’s approach to design was inspired by the Spanish phrase, sol y sombra (sun and shadow). Sun and shadow meant for Breuer that a juxtaposition of contrasts was necessary; light glass walls and heavy concrete, masses lifted over voids, and serial precast construction resting on sculptural columns became hallmarks of Breuer’s buildings. By creating an architecture of juxtaposition, Breuer’s work can be interpreted as a surrealist recontre, as fueling a new architectural condition. A critical evaluation of Marcel Breuer’s work, this book is written for graduate students, researchers, and academics interested in his work and how it shaped the architecture of the post-war era.

How "drowned town" literature, road movies, energy landscape photography, and "death train" narratives represent the brutality of industrial infrastructures. In this book, Michael Truscello looks at the industrial infrastructure not as an invisible system of connectivity and mobility that keeps capitalism humming in the background but as a manufactured miasma of despair, toxicity, and death. Truscello terms this "infrastructural brutalism"--a formulation that not only alludes to the historical nexus of infrastructure and the concrete aesthetic of Brutalist architecture but also describes the ecological, political, and psychological brutality of industrial infrastructures.

No style has divided opinion more than brutalism. But now, fifty years since the heyday of the style, Brutalist buildings are more popular than they have ever been. This is the perfect introduction to Britain’s Brutalist monuments.

From luxury apartment towers to offices, places of worship to museums, brutalist architecture is having a 21st-century moment— and this book is here to explore the new interpretations of the style. Designed with the same bold aesthetic that informed Le Corbusier himself, this book features fifty recent examples of how architects around the world are embracing the principles of brutalism — simplicity, functionality, and rawness — reimagining them for today’s standards and tastes. Drawing from the radical approach of the controversial architectural movement, today’s Brutalist buildings are both sophisticated and elegant. As the hundreds of exterior and interior photos in this book reveal, architects have taken advantage of new technology to make concrete-based structures that are refined and alluring, as well as stylish and modish unlike their predecessors. Each chapter is dedicated to a different type of building and is introduced with a selection of iconic structures as an essential visual reference for Brutalism’s new look. In some instances the overall strength of the aesthetic is paired with equally forceful materials such as glass, metal and brick; other examples show how classically brutalist lines are integrated into generously proportioned, light-filled spaces. An informative celebration of Brutalist architecture’s legacy, this book is an exciting exploration of how today’s most innovative architects are discovering the inherent beauty of powerful concrete volumes that was at the heart of Le Corbusier’s original vision.

A passionate and personal book about the writer's own love for a controversial architectural style. Whether you love or hate brutalist buildings, this book will explain what it is about them that elicits such strong feeling. You will understand the true power of concrete and of mammoth-sized buildings, but also some of the more subtle aspects of brutalist buildings that you may not have known or considered. Brutalist architecture, which flourished in the 1950s to mid-1970s, gained its name from the term ' Béton-brut', or raw concrete – the material of choice for the movement. British architectural critic Reyner Banham adapted the term into 'brutalism' (originally 'New Brutalism') to identify the emerging style. The architectural style – typified by buildings such as Trellick Tower in London and Unité D'Habitation in Marseille – is controversial but has an enthusiastic fan base, including the author who is on a mission to explain his passion. John Grindrod's book will be enlightening for those new to the subject, bringing humour, insight and honesty to the subject but will also interest those already immersed in built culture. Illustrated with striking drawings by The Brutal Artist, the book is divided up into a series of mini essays that explains the brutalist world from a human aspect, as well as an architectural, historical and even pop cultural angle. The book journeys from the UK to discover brutalism and its influence around the world – from Le Corbusier's designs in Chandigarh, India, to Lina Bo Bardi's buildings in Brazil.

Buildings designated brutalist in style were largely built in the 1960s and 1970s, exuding an aura of daring, uncompromising design today. Vilified for decades as the step-child of modernism, brutalist architecture is now enjoying an astonishing comeback by inspiring contemporary architecture. This book offers a sophisticated overview of post-war and contemporary brutalist buildings and of the relationship in appearance and design, in the grand concepts and the smallest details between brutalism today and its ancestors.

AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR Beginning in a tiny hermitage on the remote north Scottish coast, and ending up backstage at the National Theatre, Raw Concrete embarks on a wide-ranging journey through Britain over the past sixty years, stopping to examine how eight extraordinary buildings were made - from commission to construction - why they have been so vilified, and why they are beginning to be loved.