Brutalism

Brutalism is a particular style which flourished between the 1950's to the mid 1970's. The term "Brutalism" is derived from  the French word " Beton brut" -which literally means "raw concrete". Many claim that this style started thanks to the modernist architect, Le Corbusier  who was very inclined in using concrete as the main material. During those times, one has to still keep in mind that many countries were still emerging from the effects of the Second World War in which it had brought a lot of destruction, especially the morale of the citizens.  People were experiencing very rough time in building their lives again, hence one can make  a similarity with the rough texture incorporated in such style as well as the raw material.

Additionally, Le Corbusier along many other architects believed that such style could solve the ever rising problem of social housing as well as there is a huge influence from the modernist era such as flat surfaces, lifted bases as well as abstract forms.

 Unite d’ Habitation by Le Corbusier, 1952

 This project was completed in 1952, and it was considered amongst the project of such scale and that it focused on communal living for all the inhabitants to shop, play, live and come together in this so called "vertical garden city ". This idea was based on bringing the villa within a larger volume that allowed the occupants to have their own space but at the same time they could easily enjoy their time together by gathering -something which was lacking back in the days due to the War Effect. An interesting fact about this structure is that the roof has a garden terrace that has a a running track, a club, a kindergarten, a gym and a very shallow pool.

 Hubert H. Humphrey Building by Marcel Breuer, 1977

Frank Gehry who's 87 years old, has designed unconventional angles for the stata center at MIT.

Stata center at MIT by Frank Gehry, 2004

A great influence from Frank Gehry's work of the Stata center building, are the wearable rings that Elizabeth Schmitt designed. The angles and curved design of both rings have the interpretation of the unfinished concrete texture surface. All the elements applied on the rings are very much alike to how Frank Gehry design.

Frank Gehry's wearable architecture by Elizabeth Schmitt, 2016

This 27 storey slab block building that Erno Goldfinger has built is under the Brutalist architecture design with the purpose of housing people. The most striking part about this structure is the composition of the floors packed over each other which makes it so distinctive from the surrounding buildings. There are also some adjacent blocks next to it and all three are connected  by bridges  at the third floor.

Trellic Tower in London

References:

Sparkle.com, 2016. Frank Gehry’s wearable architecture Sparkle. [online] Available at: http://www.sparkle.com/frank-gehrys-wearable-architecture-2/#.V1BKc5F96Uk [Accessed 2 June 2016]

Dezeen, 2014. The Dezeen guide to Brutalist architecture. [online] Available at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/10/dezeen-guide-to-brutalist-architecture-owen-hopkins/> [Accessed 2 June 2016]

Lee F. Mindel, F. 2016. 10 Buildings People Love to Hate but Shouldn’t Architectural Digest. [online] Architectural Digest. Available at: <http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/brutalist-architecture-masterpieces> [Accessed 2 June 2016]

Medium, 2012. The Ugly-Beauty Of Brutalism — The Awl. [online] Available at: <https://theawl.com/the-ugly-beauty-of-brutalism-41ae4f80a683#.6fou9jqw2> [Accessed 2 June 2016]