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> I'm personally hesitant to call Louis Kahn's Salk Institute Brutalist. I know many define Brutalism simply as buildings with large swaths of raw concrete, whi
by PhasmaFelis 10y ago
> I'm personally hesitant to call Louis Kahn's Salk Institute Brutalist. I know many define Brutalism simply as buildings with large swaths of raw concrete, which probably qualifies 95% of modernist architecture. For me, I consider concrete oppressiveness, a certain level of heaviness, to be involved in Brutalism. The Salk Institute, in contrast, has lightness and openness.
It sounds like you're saying "it can't be Brutalist, because it's good." A bit No True Scotsman, perhaps?
- et-al 10y agoHa, I can see that interpretation. I just think the "raw concrete" definition for Brutalism is too general. If one designs a Deconstructivist building with raw concrete, does it all of a sudden make it Brutalist? Of course the terms aren't mutually exclusive, and we'd probably stroke our chins and mutter "hmmmm.. deconstructivist with brutalist tendencies, eeehhh?" (And personally, I've always enjoyed Brutalist buildings; having studied in a few.)