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Like any school of archeticture, there are good examples and bad. Largely, over time, only the good examples survive. The older the school, the higher percentag

Like any school of archeticture, there are good examples and bad. Largely, over time, only the good examples survive. The older the school, the higher percentage of it will be good, surviving examples. I find the Barbican in London — which I walk through most days — to be a very uplifting building!

jeffwass 8y ago
I was just about to say that the Barbican is probably one of the few Brutalist designs that is actually aesthetically appealing (to me). Most all other examples just feel like dystopian nightmares.
- fredley 8y ago
  Partly this is because the Barbican is exceptionally well kept (much brutalist architecture is associated with slum estates, whereas the Barbican is mostly inhabited by richer people). The concrete is clean, the ponds and fountains are working, the balconies overflow with plants. There are many exceptional examples of brutalist architecture in Paris, some well kept, some not so much: http://www.anothermag.com/design-living/9587/the-brutalist-buildings-to-visit-in-paris http://www.anothermag.com/design-living/9587/the-brutalist-b...
randomsearch 8y ago
I don’t like brutalist and I don’t like the Barbican. For me, brutalist architecture is defined by an extraordinary level of arrogance and disregard for well established design. When I was last at the Barbican I found it very hard to navigate, and I was relieved to be told by the staff there about the many “alterations” they’ve had to make to try to make the building less confusing and alien.
IshKebab 8y ago
The Barbican is notable as a rare not-horrifyingly-ugly brutalist building, but that doesn't make it good on an absolute scale.
mattlondon 8y ago
Something that I think the Barbican does well, and The National Theatre (another London brutalist building) also does well, is interesting interior spaces - openess, multi-levels, "floating" staircases, interior views, visible structural elements etc. I find both of these spaces energising and interesting to be in. Other brutalist buildings are just horid. I worked in Sampson House (just behind Tate Modern) for a couple of years which is also brutalist but the interior is dank corridors and dingy spaces. I also worked at the brutalist IBM offices next door to the National Theatre and it was also a souless space inside. They have absolutely zero-ambition and are the polar opposite of the spaces at the Barbican and National Theatre.
adamnemecek 8y ago
> Like any school of archeticture, there are good examples and bad. No, there are objectively terrible styles.

jeffwass 8y ago

I was just about to say that the Barbican is probably one of the few Brutalist designs that is actually aesthetically appealing (to me). Most all other examples just feel like dystopian nightmares.

fredley 8y ago
Partly this is because the Barbican is exceptionally well kept (much brutalist architecture is associated with slum estates, whereas the Barbican is mostly inhabited by richer people). The concrete is clean, the ponds and fountains are working, the balconies overflow with plants. There are many exceptional examples of brutalist architecture in Paris, some well kept, some not so much: http://www.anothermag.com/design-living/9587/the-brutalist-buildings-to-visit-in-paris http://www.anothermag.com/design-living/9587/the-brutalist-b...

randomsearch 8y ago

I don’t like brutalist and I don’t like the Barbican. For me, brutalist architecture is defined by an extraordinary level of arrogance and disregard for well established design. When I was last at the Barbican I found it very hard to navigate, and I was relieved to be told by the staff there about the many “alterations” they’ve had to make to try to make the building less confusing and alien.

IshKebab 8y ago

The Barbican is notable as a rare not-horrifyingly-ugly brutalist building, but that doesn't make it good on an absolute scale.

mattlondon 8y ago

Something that I think the Barbican does well, and The National Theatre (another London brutalist building) also does well, is interesting interior spaces - openess, multi-levels, "floating" staircases, interior views, visible structural elements etc. I find both of these spaces energising and interesting to be in. Other brutalist buildings are just horid. I worked in Sampson House (just behind Tate Modern) for a couple of years which is also brutalist but the interior is dank corridors and dingy spaces. I also worked at the brutalist IBM offices next door to the National Theatre and it was also a souless space inside. They have absolutely zero-ambition and are the polar opposite of the spaces at the Barbican and National Theatre.

adamnemecek 8y ago

> Like any school of archeticture, there are good examples and bad. No, there are objectively terrible styles.