3 posts for tag brutalist architecture
Brutalist London
Having decided it was time again to see some brutalism, I set out for London. My route took me to five brutalist housing developments, the Barbican Centre in the City, Balfron Tower in Tower Hamlets, Southwyck House in Brixton, Trellick Tower in Kensal Town and Alexandra Road Estate in Camden.
Beauty and the Brute (Skopje, North Macedonia)
Yes, I know, the title should be “The Beauty and the Beast”, after the famous Disney movie. I chose ‘brute’ as in ‘brutalism’ which in turn derives from ‘béton brut’, the French expression for raw concrete. It is concrete that is left unfinished after being cast, showing patterns and seams imprinted by the formwork, often of timber. Brutalism is an architectural style that originated in the 1950s and is defined by raw concrete surfaces, unusual shapes and a blocky and ‘cold’ appearance.
Brasilia
Many travelers say that Brasilia is not worth visiting. That it is completely at odds with the rest of the country, and, conceived as an unholy combination of utopian project, planned city and modernist dream, was doomed to become a failure. Whilst theoretically speaking these points have merit, I discovered that they don’t seem to apply, perhaps in a blatant case of the exception proving the rule.
