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To: chrisser
Good jibe and accurate. The style is known as Brutalist and is an extreme form of modern architecture that emphasizes sharp angles, structural elements, and bare concrete or brick without decorative touches.

The Brutalist style was common in communist countries and where socialists were power in Western Europe, and, for a time, in the US when a leftist architect got control of a building project. The style is now out of favor though for inescapable reasons.

While an isolated building in the Brutalist style can be striking, cities dominated by such architecture have a dull and dispiriting sameness. Worse, even more so than the rest of modern architecture, Brutalist buildings tend to have structural and maintenance issues and be poorly adaptable. That can make them a poor investment.

Oddly, what are now an occasional older Brutalist building in a city can be both familiar and striking. Nevertheless, the Brutalist style is a dead end because of its formal rigidity and deliberate offense to the human craving for style, beauty, and visual coherence.

18 posted on 01/15/2024 2:20:37 AM PST by Rockingham (`)
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To: Rockingham

I never studied architecture, but one thing I’ve noticed about Brutalist buildings is that the exterior is very rough in many cases. Makes you not want to touch them.

I don’t go around touching buildings but something about most other styles does compel me to want to reach out and have a tactile sensation of the construction. Brutalist buildings seem to have to be endured rather than enjoyed.


52 posted on 01/15/2024 5:24:43 AM PST by chrisser (I lost my vaccine card in a tragic boating accident.)
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