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I can think of three main reasons for this. (A) It's a form or contrarianism, in that it's an negation of mainstream preference, hence unusual. Even better,

I can think of three main reasons for this. (A) It's a form or contrarianism, in that it's an negation of mainstream preference, hence unusual. Even better, this negation of mainstream preference isn't really threatening anybody, hence good way of attracting mainstream attention. (B) Brutalism is often associated with left-wing / communist large-scale social engineering, and the left reflexively celebrates anything done by the left. (Aside, the association of brutalism with the left is historically quite false, e.g. people like Le Corbusier didn't meet a dictator he didn't like.) So where brutalism is celebrated by somebody who's explicitly and self-consciously political, it's a Gramscian hegemonic strategy [1]. An example of such a writer is Owen Hatherley [2]. (C) Cities with a lot of brutalist architecture, prevalent in the former Soviet block, use it to market themselves are tourist destinations. This ties in with (A), for why would you go and visit a city unless it had something unusual to offer, something Instagrammable, something to talk about when you are back? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_hegemony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_hegemony [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Hatherley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Hatherley

beaconstudios 8y ago
I think brutalism is more generally associated with authoritarianism, including use in modern government buildings. I think free people choose to incorporate aesthetics into their buildings where bureaucrats prefer utilitarian functional designs because they don't have to live with them or attempt to justify the value of aesthetics.
- walrus01 8y ago
  FBI HQ , Boston city hall, are two good examples.
- krapp 8y ago
  The aggressively dehumanizing aesthetic does seem to express the... brutality of the more fascistic interpretations of collectivism quite well. These buildings all seem to come from a dystopian future.
  - beaconstudios 8y ago
    the design reflects the mentality of the designer. Brutalism is totally utilitarian and reflects the perspective of occupant as unit on a spreadsheet. It's the ultimate expression of "you are a number, not a person".
walrus01 8y ago
If you look at how much a condo in Montreal's habitat 67 is selling for now, they're certainly not for the common "worker". North of $900k.
- jhbadger 8y ago
  True. But that's because it's the only example of the style and people like it (even many people who generally dislike Brutalism think habitat 67 is nice). The original idea was that it was going to be a prototype for future housing projects but that never happened.
expathacker 8y ago
> (B) Brutalism is often associated with left-wing / communist large-scale social engineering, and the left reflexively celebrates anything done by the left. (Aside, the association of brutalism with the left is historically quite false, e.g. people like Le Corbusier didn't meet a dictator he didn't like.) So where brutalism is celebrated by somebody who's explicitly and self-consciously political, it's a Gramscian hegemonic strategy [1]. An example of such a writer is Owen Hatherley [2]. Huh, quite an interesting take. On the contrary, I associate an appreciation of brutalism with those who post staunch free-market capitalist comments. I have many taken architectural tours in Bucaresti, Plovdiv, Sofia, Skopje, Moldova, Tbilisi, Beograd, Kiev, and Moscow. Unanimously, the tour-guides presented these buildings with disdain for their aesthetics and association with authoritarianism. All of the tour-guides were definitely left/liberal-leaning, some to the point of dreadlocks and Che Guevara hats. (Thanks for the links, by the way, I had never heard of Own Hatherly before!).
- YorkshireSeason 8y ago
  presented these buildings with disdain That could be explained a difference in background (growing up in the west vs in the Soviet zone of influence): It's much easier to have a rosy view of communism/socialism if you have no experience of living in a communism/socialism yourself (or your parents). As far as I'm aware, Own Hatherley is a high-ranking cadre in UK communist parties, although I have lost track which, since they have a tendency to split and splinter. As far as I'm aware, publishers like Verso Books and Zero Books were outlets of the SWP (Socialist Workers Party), although that no longer exists. I don't know which of the SWP-descendants is now in control of those publishers.
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  > On the contrary, I associate an appreciation of brutalism with those who post staunch free-market capitalist comments. I find that surprising. I associate them with architectural symbols of neoliberalism, namely modernist architecture (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_architecture). Libertarians, I associate with the weird branch of modernist architecture that builds everything out of glass and trees and matt white surfaces and everywhere looks like Dubai. Perhaps a subset of contemporary architecture? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_architecture)

beaconstudios 8y ago

I think brutalism is more generally associated with authoritarianism, including use in modern government buildings. I think free people choose to incorporate aesthetics into their buildings where bureaucrats prefer utilitarian functional designs because they don't have to live with them or attempt to justify the value of aesthetics.

walrus01 8y ago
FBI HQ , Boston city hall, are two good examples.
krapp 8y ago
The aggressively dehumanizing aesthetic does seem to express the... brutality of the more fascistic interpretations of collectivism quite well. These buildings all seem to come from a dystopian future.
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  the design reflects the mentality of the designer. Brutalism is totally utilitarian and reflects the perspective of occupant as unit on a spreadsheet. It's the ultimate expression of "you are a number, not a person".

walrus01 8y ago

If you look at how much a condo in Montreal's habitat 67 is selling for now, they're certainly not for the common "worker". North of $900k.

jhbadger 8y ago
True. But that's because it's the only example of the style and people like it (even many people who generally dislike Brutalism think habitat 67 is nice). The original idea was that it was going to be a prototype for future housing projects but that never happened.

expathacker 8y ago

> (B) Brutalism is often associated with left-wing / communist large-scale social engineering, and the left reflexively celebrates anything done by the left. (Aside, the association of brutalism with the left is historically quite false, e.g. people like Le Corbusier didn't meet a dictator he didn't like.) So where brutalism is celebrated by somebody who's explicitly and self-consciously political, it's a Gramscian hegemonic strategy [1]. An example of such a writer is Owen Hatherley [2]. Huh, quite an interesting take. On the contrary, I associate an appreciation of brutalism with those who post staunch free-market capitalist comments. I have many taken architectural tours in Bucaresti, Plovdiv, Sofia, Skopje, Moldova, Tbilisi, Beograd, Kiev, and Moscow. Unanimously, the tour-guides presented these buildings with disdain for their aesthetics and association with authoritarianism. All of the tour-guides were definitely left/liberal-leaning, some to the point of dreadlocks and Che Guevara hats. (Thanks for the links, by the way, I had never heard of Own Hatherly before!).

YorkshireSeason 8y ago
presented these buildings with disdain That could be explained a difference in background (growing up in the west vs in the Soviet zone of influence): It's much easier to have a rosy view of communism/socialism if you have no experience of living in a communism/socialism yourself (or your parents). As far as I'm aware, Own Hatherley is a high-ranking cadre in UK communist parties, although I have lost track which, since they have a tendency to split and splinter. As far as I'm aware, publishers like Verso Books and Zero Books were outlets of the SWP (Socialist Workers Party), although that no longer exists. I don't know which of the SWP-descendants is now in control of those publishers.
beaconstudios 8y ago
> On the contrary, I associate an appreciation of brutalism with those who post staunch free-market capitalist comments. I find that surprising. I associate them with architectural symbols of neoliberalism, namely modernist architecture (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_architecture). Libertarians, I associate with the weird branch of modernist architecture that builds everything out of glass and trees and matt white surfaces and everywhere looks like Dubai. Perhaps a subset of contemporary architecture? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_architecture)