Brutalism

Brutalism

Brutalism is like the marmite of architecture, you either love it or hate it.

So what is brutalism and where did it come from? Brutalism originated at the end of WWII when Europe needed to rebuild quickly after the extreme damage it had received from the war. They used cheap and accessible materials like: concrete, glass and wood. Thus the brutalist design was born.

You may think that brutalism got it’s name because of it’s brutal appearance but it was actually because of the french phrase “Béton Brut” which means raw concrete.

Brutalism’s popularity peaked in the 50s, 60s & 70s and the style became even more popular after Reyner Banham’s 1955 article “The new brutalism”. Sadly, in the subsequent decades, people found it too ugly and a lot of the buildings have now been demolished...

Continue reading...