It ’s hard to find a more polarizing architecture — even among scholars it ’s most probable to be described as “ ugly , ” “ unloved , ” or even “ hate . ” I ’m talking about Brutalism , the blockish unfinished concrete way which used to be very common in urban center around the world , but is now being demolished at an astounding rate .
Although you may justly think that Brutalism got its name due to its “ brutal”-looking exteriors , it ’s really derive from the French term for béton brut , or “ raw concrete . ” This is the stuff that Swiss - French architect and Brutalism mastermind Le Corbusier used in his genre - clay sculpture piece of work during the 1950s . As a variant on the blade and looking glass of the Modernist earned run average , these windowless bunker with chunky facades make them finger like heavy , permanent sandcastles on the landscape painting .
And actually , Brutalism was democratic in the sixties and 70s for that very reason : The low-cost , durable style could be easily put through in places like urban plazas where architects were indeed worried about the possibility of civic agitation . ( For more historical circumstance on Brutalism , this guideis very unspoiled . )
Inside a court in the Orange County Government Building in Goshen , New York , which preservationists are trying to save . AP Photo / Mike Groll
But unlike midcentury modernism , which has experienced a resonant cultural resurgence , Brutalism has not seen the sameswelling of ebullience — or maybe it was never really embraced at all . One topic is that these edifice are not conventionally think of as “ beautiful , ” like a frilly Victorian or Beaux Arts construction might be . There ’s the inauspicious fact that concrete became the fabric more usually used for expressway and inundation channels . But the trouble is also technological : Over time it has been revealed that Brutalism is problematical because unfinished concrete requires exceptional maintenance to aid it age well , aesthetically . Many concrete building suffer leaks and stains on the outside that are not easy to remove .
Anthony Paletta has beenchronicling Brutalism ’s disappearanceover at The Awl . By last year three of the five structure he featured in a2012 piecewere already gone , include theStage Theater in Oklahoma Cityand theMorris A. Mechanic Theaterin Baltimore . Just since I started collecting examples to compose this story , thePrentiss Women ’s Hospitalwas demolished in Chicago in February .
So it ’s extremely accurate to say that Brutalism might the one of the most endangered architectural styles on the planet . Here are seven Brutalist construction with complicated pasts and uncertain futurity .
exposure byGryffindor
After attempts to expand the baffling site , this week the Whitney Museum of American Art renounce its former construction designed by Marcel Breuer and Hamilton P. Smith in 1966 . It ’s not going to be tear down , of course of action — the Metropolitan Museum of Art is using it as extra exhibition space — but as a sign of changing view , the Whitney entrust the premises in favor of aglassy box in the Meatpacking District .
Photo byDave Pattern
Last year the FBI announce that it would be leaving their headquarters in DC , a 1964 edifice that almost everyone agrees will be charge down once they ’re out . At CityLab , Kriston Capps argues that theunfriendly , hulking massmight have been part of the reason the way ’s had such bad atomic number 59 all these years .
photograph byMimi Zeiger
The governance coordination compound in the metropolis south of LA was covered in verdant public gardens when it spread out in 1978 . A newplan to regenerate and reopen the gardenswould dramatically improve its curb appeal and endear the structure to the urban center . AtRe : Form , Mimi Zeiger writes that the rehabilitation of the gardens would undoubtably also help improve Brutalism ’s picture .
Photo bySanyam Bahga
In a way of life , the buildings that launched the Brutalism movement are the most peril . In the early fifties Le Corbusier was tapped to create a master plan for the Indian city that resulted in dozens of gorgeous Brutalist masterpieces . But the concrete fared especially poorly in the humid clime and many of these structures are abandoned or in awful pauperization of renovation . Plus , the building ’s fastness are so alluring to conception fans thatmany of them have been plundered , their pieces auctioneer off .
PhotoPenny Petersen , Minnesota Historical Society
The signature center in downtown Minneapolis features a sunken amphitheatre and blockish fountains . After a long legal conflict , the plaza was bring up to the National Register of Historic Places , which bolster its case to abide . Deemed “ save , ” now there ’s aplan to rehabthe plaza that will hopefully go through .
Photo byDr Greg
One of the reality ’s largest bus stations ( depending on how you measure it ) , the gargantuan construction was complete in 1969 . It was slated for destruction in 2012 , and a2013 campaignended up saving the station . Earlier this year , acompetition was launchedto design a young person center inside the building .
AP Photo / Mike Groll
This government complex was designed by Paul Rudolph , who was also behind the Brutalist architecture schooling construction at Yale . One of the latest victory in along battleto save it came in the form of a causa which delayed a decision by local voter to crush the building . Now renovations have been proposed to preserve the facade .
Top image bygb pandey
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