IBM France Research Center, La Gaude, France, 1958-62
(Marcel Breuer & Associates)
This is my 750th post, and FYB is nearing 40,000 followers. It seems now is a good enough time for a bit of reflection. I’m amazed and humbled by the amount of attention and recognition this blog has garnered.
My intention isn’t that all 40,000 of you start designing Brutalist architecture, but that some of you begin to treat this (admittedly quite nebulous and often misunderstood) mode of building with a bit of respect. Brutalism was and is an essential episode in the history of modern architecture, and the more evidence of its presence we lose through negligence and demolition, the harder it is to see a complete picture of that history.
If one finds these buildings unwelcoming and discomfiting, remember the visceral feeling they engender, and reflect on the powerful yet subtle effect that architecture can have on your daily life. That is all.
Brutalism is fucking incredible, i often have difficulty explaining quite how i feel about it, but it really is amazing, and it’s tragic that this type of architecture is often ignored or condemned in the world of blank, hyper-modern structures. Long live Modernism.