Brutalism

Brutalism as a housing style, is most associated with the kind of concrete, council estate that appeared in Britain’s major cities in the two decades after the Second World War.

Background

In this post-war period, the bomb sites that scarred many British cities were an invitation to experiment at a time when people were seeking a brave new world, after another decade of carnage. Council architects departments became hotbeds of innovation with architects like [ ] and [ ].

Many of the estates that were produced at this time have become famous and celebrated in the architectural community. Trellick Tower and the Barbican in London are loved and hated in equal measure. The same holds true for Brutalist icons in the north like Biker and [ ]. For tenants, they have proved a mixed blessing. Over time, they became known as sink estates In a recent article in the Guardian <ref> Guardian Review of Books - Simon Jenkins reviewing ‘100 Buildings, 100 Years’ - The Guardian 15th November 2014. </ref>, critic Simon Jenkins said “Brutalism left some truly awful buildings....[that] proved hard to maintain, easy to vandalise and unadaptable to new uses”.

It is easy to focus on the problems that the Brutalist estates have delivered, however it must be remembered that many of the families first housed in them had moved in from decrepit slums with little or no sanitation. Whilst we can criticise from a position of hindsight, for many of these families, these homes were a revelation.

With architectural styles, there is always someone looking to re-invent the past. Neo-Brutalism has sought to right some of the wrongs of the post-war era. Although, it is mainly a style used for expensive one-off houses like the Pitch House or exquisite public buildings like the Hepworth Gallery

Brutalist Blocks of Flats (UK)

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  Trellick Tower

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  Balfron Tower

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  The Barbican

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  Alexandra Road

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  Brunswick Centre

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  The Grade II listed Park Hill Estate, Sheffield

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  Cables Wynd House, better known as the Banana Block, in Leith, Edinburgh

Brutalist Blocks of Flats (International)

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  ‘Le Brasilia’ Marseilles, 1967 by architect Fernand Boukobza

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  ‘Karaburma Housing Tower‘Belgrade, Serbia 1963 by architect Rista Šekerinski.

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  ’Torres Blancas’, Madrid

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  ‘Habitat 67’, Montreal 1967. An an apartment block of 146 units by Canadian Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, built as part of Expo 1967.

Brutalist Houses

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  ‘Casa Del Puente’ 1942, by the Argentinian architect Amancio Williams (1913-1989) was a house for his father. This small concrete building spans a creek on the father's property in Mar del Plata.

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  Villa Göth (1950) by Bengt Edman and Lennart Holm, Upssala, Sweden. The first building ever referred to as ‘Brutalist’.

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  ‘Casa no Butantã’, São Paulo, 1964 by Mendes da Rocha

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  ‘2 Granchester Road’, Cambridge 1964. A pair of houses by Colin St John Wilson

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  Charolle House

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  Casa Sperimentale (experimental house) 1969 Fregeme, Italy. Architect Giuseppe Perugini’s Brutalist exploration of ideas pertaining to form and space.

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  'Round House' at Herentals, Antwerp, Belgium by Jackie Cuylens 1970

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  ‘Hill House‘ in Headley, Hampshire by Denis Lasdun.

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  The Brunnadernstrasse Houses by Atelier5 In Bern, Switzerland.

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  Housden House 1960, by architect Brian Housden in London NW6

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  ‪Koerfer House (1963-66) in Moscia, Switzerland, by Marcel Breuer & Herbert Beckhard‬

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  Villa Denin, Djursholm, Stockholm by Léonie (Lola) Geisendorf.

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  ‘Summer Residence’, 1969-70 by Alexandros Tombazis at Kinetta, Greece. Featured in the BBC adaptation of Le Carré’s ‘Little Drummer Girl’.

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  ‘Diagoonwoningen’ 1970, experimental housing by Herman Hertzberger, Delft, NL

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  ’ Villa Ronconi’ Italy, 1973 by Saverio Busiri Vici

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  ‘Haus Plettner’, Berlin 1971 by Jan & Rolf Rave.

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  ’The Van Wassenhove House’ 1974 by Belgian Brutalist architect Juliaan Lampens.

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  Vandenhaute-Kiebooms

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  HausSplettner

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  Pitch's House

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  ‘U-House’ by Toyo Ito 1976

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  ’Azuma Row House’ 1976 by Tadao Ando in Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Japan.

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  ’The Arimaston Building’ Tokyo (ongoing) by artist and architect Keisuke Oka, who has been ‘improvising’ the eclectic structure mostly single-handedly, for 13 years.

Brutalism In The Arts

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  ‘Looking Through Spaces at the Barbican’ by artist Lee Fether

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  'Thamesmead Walkway' oil on raw linen by artist Lee Fether

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  Trellick Tower by Paul Catherall

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  'Trellick Tower from the Train No 24' series by @Birmingham_81

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  ‘Untitled MFC’ by David Hepher, 2013. He describes his depictions of South London’s concrete estates as “inner-city suburbia”.

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  ‘Stubb's Point‘ by Louise Hayward

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  ‘Grantchester Road’, by Howard Hodgkin A painting of architect Sir Colin StJohn Wilson’s house in Cambridge.

See Also In Chimni

ChimniWiki Is My House 'Art Deco'?

Other Interesting Web Sites

This Brutal House

Cold House - A brilliant blog about modern Brutalist houses

Brutalist Construction - A web site full of Brutalist Case studies

Tower Block - An Academic Approach

Brutalism In The Movies and On TV

Books We Liked

[Housing of the London County Council

References

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