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Brutalism came and went fairly quickly as an architectural trend. I feel like it never had much opportunity to develop. As a result, for every great example of

Brutalism came and went fairly quickly as an architectural trend. I feel like it never had much opportunity to develop. As a result, for every great example of brutalist architecture today you can point to 10 others that really are eye-sores. Many Canadian University campuses provide good examples of this: one or two magnificent buildings alongside many others that most people wouldn't mind tearing down.

pavel_lishin 10y ago
> As a result, for every great example of brutalist architecture today you can point to 10 others that really are eye-sores. Isn't that just sort of an application of Sturgeon's law? Although I suppose that given how expensive a building is to put up, there's a lot more push back against ugly things.
- herge 10y ago
  And also, old buildings are prettier on average because the old ugly buildings get torn down and replaced.
  - user5994461 10y ago
    Not sure whether it can apply to this context. The concretes building are fairly recent. Not sure there was enough time to have a sort of "return on investment". And breaking down something of that scale is quite an undertaking.
- at-fates-hands 10y ago
  Not to mention most of these were made mostly of concrete and steel and built to last a lifetime. Trying to justify tearing down a perfectly fine structure just because its an eye sore becomes a much harder argument to make.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    Concrete has a very hard time lasting more than a few decades anywhere that gets rain, and especially anywhere that gets snow.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- ghaff 10y ago
  Not sure. There's boring or uninspiring and then there's outright ugly. Sure, a lot of buildings (most) are meh. But Brutalism managed to create an outsized number of structures that have come to be viewed as actively awful looking.
- Retra 10y ago
  They probably looked very pretty in the blueprints.
- lmm 10y ago
  > Isn't that just sort of an application of Sturgeon's law? I think the "international style" has a much better hit ratio though. So there really was/is something uniquely bad about brutalism. (My pet theory is that it's a style designed to look good in black-and-white photographs - presumably because that's what architects tended to be judged on in those days? - at the expense of looking good in real life)
vkou 10y ago
Are there worse offenders than Simon Fraser University? Because it seems to have been built to be the perfect middle-ground between open-air prison, sci-fi military base, and early 20th century involuntary asylum.
- Fricken 10y ago
  Totally Simon Fraser, built around 1965 when Brutalism was still in style. The University of Alberta has many brutalist classics that went up during the oil crisis of the late 70s (boom times for Alberta) long after brutalism had gone out of fashion. Edmonton built some nice brutalist courthouses remniscent of Boston City Hall, a brutalist art gallery, and brutalist legislature grounds among other buildings. I grew up in the north Edmonton suburbs where a brutalist shoopping mall was erected, it was schockingly out of place. At the back was a terraced park plaza that was concrete, lifeless and featured a gigantic fountain (that never worked) that was a labynthine pile of concrete blocks and slabs. I used to love going there as a kid, it was always desserted because it was so ugly and it served as a generic backdrop and playground to act out my dystopian sci-fi fantasies. The plaza and fountain has since been torn out and replaced by something less alientating, and now people actually hang out there, which is disappointing.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    Wait. Did you just use the word "nice" in a way that was associated with Boston City Hall, even indirectly? AFAIK (and my own experience) Boston City Hall is pretty much universally reviled as Soviet architecture set in a wind-swept brickyard--the latter aspect of which is apparently being addressed to some degree. Speaking of Boston, I must admit that the redone, cleaned-up Brutalist modern wing of the Boston Public Library while, of course nowhere equalling the original Beaux Arts structure, actually feels open, welcoming, and airy. It was truly awful previously.
    - batiudrami 10y ago
      I've never seen it until today but by a quick Googling I think it looks great? Though I too would lose the paving (and admittedly I am a fan of the style).

pavel_lishin 10y ago

> As a result, for every great example of brutalist architecture today you can point to 10 others that really are eye-sores. Isn't that just sort of an application of Sturgeon's law? Although I suppose that given how expensive a building is to put up, there's a lot more push back against ugly things.

herge 10y ago
And also, old buildings are prettier on average because the old ugly buildings get torn down and replaced.
- user5994461 10y ago
  Not sure whether it can apply to this context. The concretes building are fairly recent. Not sure there was enough time to have a sort of "return on investment". And breaking down something of that scale is quite an undertaking.
at-fates-hands 10y ago
Not to mention most of these were made mostly of concrete and steel and built to last a lifetime. Trying to justify tearing down a perfectly fine structure just because its an eye sore becomes a much harder argument to make.
- throwanem 10y ago
  Concrete has a very hard time lasting more than a few decades anywhere that gets rain, and especially anywhere that gets snow.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
ghaff 10y ago
Not sure. There's boring or uninspiring and then there's outright ugly. Sure, a lot of buildings (most) are meh. But Brutalism managed to create an outsized number of structures that have come to be viewed as actively awful looking.
Retra 10y ago
They probably looked very pretty in the blueprints.
lmm 10y ago
> Isn't that just sort of an application of Sturgeon's law? I think the "international style" has a much better hit ratio though. So there really was/is something uniquely bad about brutalism. (My pet theory is that it's a style designed to look good in black-and-white photographs - presumably because that's what architects tended to be judged on in those days? - at the expense of looking good in real life)

vkou 10y ago

Are there worse offenders than Simon Fraser University? Because it seems to have been built to be the perfect middle-ground between open-air prison, sci-fi military base, and early 20th century involuntary asylum.

Fricken 10y ago
Totally Simon Fraser, built around 1965 when Brutalism was still in style. The University of Alberta has many brutalist classics that went up during the oil crisis of the late 70s (boom times for Alberta) long after brutalism had gone out of fashion. Edmonton built some nice brutalist courthouses remniscent of Boston City Hall, a brutalist art gallery, and brutalist legislature grounds among other buildings. I grew up in the north Edmonton suburbs where a brutalist shoopping mall was erected, it was schockingly out of place. At the back was a terraced park plaza that was concrete, lifeless and featured a gigantic fountain (that never worked) that was a labynthine pile of concrete blocks and slabs. I used to love going there as a kid, it was always desserted because it was so ugly and it served as a generic backdrop and playground to act out my dystopian sci-fi fantasies. The plaza and fountain has since been torn out and replaced by something less alientating, and now people actually hang out there, which is disappointing.
- ghaff 10y ago
  Wait. Did you just use the word "nice" in a way that was associated with Boston City Hall, even indirectly? AFAIK (and my own experience) Boston City Hall is pretty much universally reviled as Soviet architecture set in a wind-swept brickyard--the latter aspect of which is apparently being addressed to some degree. Speaking of Boston, I must admit that the redone, cleaned-up Brutalist modern wing of the Boston Public Library while, of course nowhere equalling the original Beaux Arts structure, actually feels open, welcoming, and airy. It was truly awful previously.
  - batiudrami 10y ago
    I've never seen it until today but by a quick Googling I think it looks great? Though I too would lose the paving (and admittedly I am a fan of the style).