10 Icons of Brutalist Architecture, from the Breuer to the Barbican
With béton brut (“raw concrete”) as its namesake and primary material, Brutalism
initially surfaced in the middle of the 20th century, in part as a
quick, economical solution to the urban destruction wrought by World War
II. At first centered in England, the style spread across the world in
the following decades, proposing a radical new form of Modernism,
steeped in socialist ideas, that embraced hard lines and a utilitarian
lack of ornamentation. Long reviled but recently revived, Brutalism is
nothing if not striking, with its heavy, imposing buildings that
privilege function over form. Here are 10 of the world’s most iconic
examples of the style.
Unité d’Habitation, Marseille
Le Corbusier, Completed in 1952
The
first in Le Corbusier’s series of “unité” buildings was built as
post-WWII working-class housing, but instead it became home to
Marseille’s intelligentsia, when its intended residents balked at the
revolutionary design. Then complete with a shopping center, post office,
and room for 1,600 people in efficiently laid-out apartments, the
building acted as a self-contained city that, according to
Le Corbusier, “show[ed] the new splendor of bare concrete.” Recently
designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the megalith arguably
represents the birth of Brutalism.
Paul Rudolph Hall, New Haven, Connecticut
Paul Rudolph, Completed in 1963
Yale
University’s Paul Rudolph Hall—formerly called the Yale Art and
Architecture Building and renamed for the preeminent architect in
2008—is considered one of the first brutalist buildings in the United
States. Two of the Hall’s giant textured-concrete columns flank its
narrow, off-center entryway, corralling visitors inside. The interior is
unexpectedly open, enhanced by natural light and enabling views of the Louis Kahn-designed
Yale University Art Gallery across the street. Intended to forge a
community among students, the building manifests Brutalism’s social
ideals.
Bank of London and South America, Buenos Aires
Clorindo Testa and SEPRA, completed in 1966
Now
owned by Banco Hipotecario Nacional, the building that once housed
Buenos Aires’s Bank of London and South America stands both in concert
with and contrast to its neoclassical neighbors. Echoing the surrounding
Beaux Arts buildings, the bank splays out to meet the area’s narrow
streets, yet passersby can move among columns at its base, enjoying the
impression of more sidewalk space. Visible at the building’s front is
its primary structure—a sleek glass box encased on either side by a
rugged concrete shell. Apertures in the concrete lend both levity and
character, as well as exterior views from within.
SESC Pompéia, São Paulo
Lina Bo Bardi, Completed in 1986
Transformed
from an out-of-use factory slated for demolition into a leisure center,
the SESC Pompéia in downtown São Paulo epitomizes Lina Bo Bardi’s
dedication to local heritage and materials. When the architect began the
project—what she called
a “socialist experiment”—in the late 1970s, the building was serving as
a kind of unofficial community center, with the non-governmental
Serviço Social do Comércio (SESC) organization hosting cultural
activities and sports there. Bo Bardi honored the building’s existing
use, expanding the complex with monumental concrete towers and bridges
that also pay homage to its industrial roots.
The Breuer Building, New York City
Marcel Breuer, COMPLETED in 1966
The former home of the Whitney Museum of American Art (which relocated to the Meatpacking District last year),
the hulking, top-heavy Breuer Building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side
initially met with criticism when it opened in 1966. Since then, its
bold contrast with the area’s brownstone-lined streets has endeared it
to the public as an avant-garde neighborhood fixture—and current Met outpost. Named after its Bauhaus-educated
architect, the building’s unornamented granite façade and concrete
ceilings typify the brutalist insistence on raw materials and
functionality.
The Barbican, London
Chamberlin, Powell, and Bon, COMPLETED: 1982
The
architects of the Barbican created the estate’s mottled façades by
hammering away at cast concrete, and enlivened the structure’s
cantilevered balconies with plants. The massive multi-use complex
contains an arts center, cinema, restaurants, and schools, as well as
some 2000 apartments that began as council housing, intended to make
inner-city living desirable to middle-class professionals. Built on a
site razed by World War II bombings (“The Blitz,” as it is known in the
U.K.), the estate’s layout is intentionally bewildering, an effect
created through elements reminiscent of a medieval fortress as well as
private gardens, lakes, and walkways.
Boston City Hall, Boston
Gerhard Kallmann and Michael McKinnnell, COMPLETED in 1968
Built
as part of a campaign to restore the city’s former glory in the face of
economic inertia and white flight, Boston’s City Hall has been under
fire for its harsh aesthetic since it opened in 1968. The architectural
community, however, has praised it as an icon of Brutalism. The concrete
building was conceived according to a kind of modernized Classicism à
la Le Corbusier, with rows of coffered overhangs and various protruding
modules, one of which houses the mayor’s office. With windows into the
building’s activities and an outdoor plaza designed to flow seamlessly
into the lobby, the building espouses governmental transparency.
Habitat 67, Montreal
Moshe Sadie, COMPLETED in 1967
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Habitat
67 began as Safdie’s McGill University graduate thesis and evolved into
one of Canada’s most recognizable brutalist structures. His first
design to ever be realized, the set of 354 interlocking, prefabricated
concrete units, containing 158 one- to four-bedroom apartments, each
with a roof garden, was originally presented at Montreal’s 1967 World’s
Fair. Situated along the Saint Lawrence River, the dramatic complex—with
its cubic modules that jut out into the surrounding space—proposed the
idea of an urban “village,” which Safdie considered a more humane and
organic alternative to traditional apartment living.
Trellick Tower, London
Ernie Goldfinger, COMPLETED in 1972
“Cities can become centers of civilization where men and women can live happy lives,” Goldfinger once said. Yet by 1972, when the “unité”-inspired Trellick
Tower was erected as public housing, it was in the face of growing
disillusion about similar tower block buildings. Now revitalized after
years of dereliction and petty crime that earned it the moniker Tower of
Terror, the 332-foot-high concrete block features two distinct yet
connected buildings, separating elevators and stairwells from the
balconied apartments to maximize living space.
Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (MuBE), São Paulo
Paulo Mendes da Rocha, COMPLETED in 1988
Though
MuBE took shape in the late 1980s, significantly after Brutalism’s
heyday, it is a striking example of the Paulista School style—the
international movement’s Brazilian iteration. As such, Mendes da
Rocha—who received a Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Architecture
Biennale and the 2006 Pritzker Prize—embraced the large-scale, bulky
forms that raw concrete naturally facilitates, manifested in the
nearly-200-foot beam atop the museum. Containing offices, an art school,
and open, concrete galleries, the museum itself is built largely below
ground, so as to respect the surrounding green space.
—Rachel Lebowitz
—Rachel Lebowitz
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