4 ms·

It never rains in an architect's world. The elegant lines, the broad sweeps, the little-people models and their renderings, all exist on a sunny spring day in

It never rains in an architect's world. The elegant lines, the broad sweeps, the little-people models and their renderings, all exist on a sunny spring day in April. People live in a world where it rains and snows and sun-bakes. And, channeling my inner Jeff Goldblum, life finds a way. Net result is that buildings that look beautiful on paper end up gray and splodged with rust marks, mold, moss, water damage and all the impacts of living on a wet planet. Why anyone thought Brutalism would work in a country like the UK for example is beyond me. Perhaps it works in Japan (to some extent) because they have an intense pride in things being clean and comme il faut. I speculate that they also appreciate honesty-in-materials which is one of the tenets of Brutalism.

mjd 2y ago
Don't all buildings in the UK end up splodged with rust marks, mold, moss, and water damage? I'm not trying to be snarky here, I just wonder why it doesn't bother you the same way and why you're talking as if non-brutalist buildings are somehow immune to the impacts of living on a wet planet. Aren't there many buildings in the UK where the moss or the weathering are considered picturesque and desirable?
- deleted 2y ago
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- card_zero 2y ago
  There's a practical answer and a psychological answer. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Bridgewater_House%2C_14_Cleveland_Road%2C_London_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6533930.jpg/2560px-Bridgewater_House%2C_14_Cleveland_Road%2C_London_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6533930.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Br... That's Bridgewater House, which was in Downton Abbey, and it's got some bad staining if you look closely. But it's covered in details, so that tends to hide the dirt. It's made from blocks of stone, and most of the staining is different per block, so it only accentuates the blocks. There's nasty stains on the balustrades, but they're such fussy structures that you have to really look at them to notice it. The stone spheres at upper right are, I believe, all covered in pigeon shit, but again since they're small details and it's a fairly even coating of pigeon shit it really doesn't look so bad. The only parts where the stains stand out are on the small section of blank wall to the right of the main building, and around the entrance. They should probably clean those. But since these are small and accessible areas, and not giant expanses of blank smooth concrete, they probably can clean them (if English Heritage allows it). So that's the practical side of it: details hide the muck. But there's also this "picturesque and desirable" angle. There are some deep-seated memes about romantic ruins. So yes, some old castle or monastery or cottage can be damaged and decaying in particular patterns that fit the tropes, and something inside us says "how storybook", and suddenly it's enchanting instead of gross. Which is kind of unfair. I often like to think about how castles are really just military installations that were originally full of special forces waiting to pour out the gates astride their four-legged APCs and subdue the local insurgents (especially in Wales), and if we could see them through the eyes of those locals they'd be threatening and oppressive and not picturesque at all. But you can't throw off these memes, it's culture, even if it makes no sense.
tim333 2y ago
Things like the Southbank Centre kind of work and are popular. Just rather ugly. At least being on the river you can face the other way and look at that. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/magazine/concrete-dreams-celebrating-the-southbank-centres-brutalist-buildings/ https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/magazine/concrete-dreams-c...
djmips 2y ago
You assume that everyone thinks that's ugly. These buildings with their wet planet blemishes look just fine to me.
Ferret7446 2y ago
That explains Fallingwater.

mjd 2y ago

Don't all buildings in the UK end up splodged with rust marks, mold, moss, and water damage? I'm not trying to be snarky here, I just wonder why it doesn't bother you the same way and why you're talking as if non-brutalist buildings are somehow immune to the impacts of living on a wet planet. Aren't there many buildings in the UK where the moss or the weathering are considered picturesque and desirable?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
card_zero 2y ago
There's a practical answer and a psychological answer. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Bridgewater_House%2C_14_Cleveland_Road%2C_London_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6533930.jpg/2560px-Bridgewater_House%2C_14_Cleveland_Road%2C_London_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6533930.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Br... That's Bridgewater House, which was in Downton Abbey, and it's got some bad staining if you look closely. But it's covered in details, so that tends to hide the dirt. It's made from blocks of stone, and most of the staining is different per block, so it only accentuates the blocks. There's nasty stains on the balustrades, but they're such fussy structures that you have to really look at them to notice it. The stone spheres at upper right are, I believe, all covered in pigeon shit, but again since they're small details and it's a fairly even coating of pigeon shit it really doesn't look so bad. The only parts where the stains stand out are on the small section of blank wall to the right of the main building, and around the entrance. They should probably clean those. But since these are small and accessible areas, and not giant expanses of blank smooth concrete, they probably can clean them (if English Heritage allows it). So that's the practical side of it: details hide the muck. But there's also this "picturesque and desirable" angle. There are some deep-seated memes about romantic ruins. So yes, some old castle or monastery or cottage can be damaged and decaying in particular patterns that fit the tropes, and something inside us says "how storybook", and suddenly it's enchanting instead of gross. Which is kind of unfair. I often like to think about how castles are really just military installations that were originally full of special forces waiting to pour out the gates astride their four-legged APCs and subdue the local insurgents (especially in Wales), and if we could see them through the eyes of those locals they'd be threatening and oppressive and not picturesque at all. But you can't throw off these memes, it's culture, even if it makes no sense.

tim333 2y ago

Things like the Southbank Centre kind of work and are popular. Just rather ugly. At least being on the river you can face the other way and look at that. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/magazine/concrete-dreams-celebrating-the-southbank-centres-brutalist-buildings/ https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/magazine/concrete-dreams-c...

djmips 2y ago

You assume that everyone thinks that's ugly. These buildings with their wet planet blemishes look just fine to me.

Ferret7446 2y ago

That explains Fallingwater.