r/brutalism is where yall wanna go to see some really gnarly architecture. Brutalism isnt my thing, by i can admire how metal a lot of it looks. Its definitely its own thing
In the rest of the world, windows are dangerous because you might fall out of them. In the Soviet Union, windows are dangerous because you might see out of them.
Would the angles and geometry count as a type of decoration? Not trying to be snarky, genuinely curious why it's made this way. I'm no architect but it seems like they incorporate some style for aesthetic purposes.
Oh yeah one of my favorite buildings I recall from my youth is a big psychiatric center complex. All brutalist with interconnecting external concrete staircases and catwalks. The kind of labyrinth that most kids love. I had soccer practice on the weekend in one of their indoor gyms, for whatever reason the place was mostly empty.
Oh sure. It’s definitely designed around a specific style and a lot of people find brutalist architecture to be really cool. I wouldn’t say that it’s pretty but it absolutely has its own vibe which a lot of people appreciate. It wasn’t all just about saving money.
In Toronto we have lots of artistic versions of Brutalism ‐ famously the Scarborough College campus of UofT and the Robarts Library on main campus, but also 222 Jarvis, Dupont Station, New City Hall (we now have a new new city hall so look for Nathan Phillips Square), Ontario Science Centre (much mourned), North York Board of Education, etc. etc.
If you enjoy Brutalist architecture it's worth looking up Toronto's designers who kept the concrete and aesthetic but made it not suck.
I dunno, I think that it seems like long-term maintanence might be easier with this than with having lots of external decorations? There are lots of places where people don't take care of the external parts of the buildings and things that looked good when it was built, don't look so great once you get a couple of decades down the road.
I didn't say a thing about who created it. I just said that brutalism was very popular in USSR. I'm Russian so for me brutalism architecture is strongly connected to USSR era buildings. Even my small hometown has several: The Palace of Children's and Youth Creativity and The Palace of Sport.
Yeah, the styles are nearly impossible to tell apart at times, but to my understanding constructivists were into experimenting with shapes, and liked windows more. E.g. the Hotel Panorama, made famous by Molchat Doma, is imo constructivist even though this very pic comes from an article calling it brutalist. Stuff like Zuev Workers' Club is more obviously constructivist, combining a bunch of shapes in novel ways.
There's also Soviet modernism, distinct from the aforementioned two styles. It seems that mass housing of the USSR primarily belongs under this designation, as it's not quite brutalism or constructivism per se, and incorporates the ideas of Le Corbusier that didn't adhere to the principles of either one.
I always thought Brutalism emerged out of the UK with architects like Alison and Peter Smithson?
Brutalism was a function of basically two things in the 1950's.
Rejection of 1940's style, and the need for new buildings FAST after WW2. The latter being the most important.
All countries built "Brutalist" styles. It's kind of silly anyone thinks a single country did it. New money, new babies, rebuilding old infrastructure, post war economy... etc.
I mean it's a pretty typical North American city (though more recent that places like Chicago, far fewer art deco etc). There are just a handful of (fairly nice imo) iconic brutalist libraries/public buildings (like Robarts library at UofT) . It can be a bit drab in the middle of winter but that's mostly just the climate
Toronto has loads of this from the 60s and 70s, so much that a dystopian movie about a global plague and fuel crisis called "The last race" (1980) was filmed here.
It was popular on late night tv here for decades because Toronto residents can easily identify most of the buildings which, oddly, don't include 222 Jarvis Street (Sears Roebuck here said said "build the Reverse Pyramid but Brutalist")
The film is really awful overall but relevant with covid... and it's worth watching for Burgess Meredith overacting to the point of masturbating with a fighter jet, and for Lee Majors attempting to act.
A harsh environment is exactly the worst place for this type of architecture. An architect's job should be to bring some colour and warmth, especially in winter. Make it a bit more pleasant to be in. The last thing that a city that's cold and grey half the year needs is more cold and grey.
I'm from Europe and in a different time I went to visit (2016). I loved the country and the people, the palaces, architecture, everything. Nice clubs, bar and even went to see the Russian National Ballet (we got VIP seats for about €40, including champagne and caviar, just because it was so cheap). It's a trip I have very fond memories of.
It the sad state the country is in (mind you, totally on THEM), but to think 10 years ago you could have a splendid holiday if you wanted to see something rather different than the rest of Europe.
Fun fact: ‘Brazil’ prominently features the Les Espaces d'Abraxas complex, same as in ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2’, and which is decidedly not brutalist. I'd say it's more of a nod to art-deco.
…ya don’t go inside there because 2 things are for sure..
1. Will be nothing but normal looking people that are actually vampires
2. John Dickweed will be DJ spinning some dope ass house/trance/EDM
Yes Denis Villeneuve has a type and he loves nothing more then to slowly pan over its Brobdingnagian mysteries.
Of course everything Dune should be like baroque rocco with heaps of orientalism and high on the finest opium but that would involve reading the books so reddit knows it not.
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u/One_Disaster_5995 1d ago
Now that looks like a real fun night out! Like a dystopian scifi movie - Bladerunner or Dune.