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Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was just about to mention Belgrade, imo it has the best brutalist buildings outside of the former Soviet Union countries, that's (also) why it is on my to-visit-soon list.
Belgrade was not a part of the Soviet Union
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was just about to mention Belgrade, imo it has the best brutalist buildings outside of the former Soviet Union countries, that's (also) why it is on my to-visit-soon list.
Belgrade was not a part of the Soviet Union
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/sep/02...
A long time resident of Prague. I hate this shit. All of it. If there ever was an architecture designed to squeeze the soul out of you, spit on it, curb-stomp it AND, to add insult to injury, age like milk in absence of proper maintenance, this is it. The modern glass-and-steel architecture is "only" soulless in comparison.
While I tend to agree that brutalist is sometimes an excuse for ugly, even you gotta admit that most of the pictures in the article are quite stunning.
I used to live next to two rather famous Brutalist buildings. One of them was actually kept in good order and the original architect seemed not to be outright enemy of mankind. It still had a score of problems, but well.
The other one was beyond ugly; it was actively evil. I wasn't surprised when I later learnt that the Communist secret police (StB) had extensive wiretapping and surveillance facilities there, among others. It was just a perfect fit.
A long time resident of Prague. I hate this shit. All of it. If there ever was an architecture designed to squeeze the soul out of you, spit on it, curb-stomp it AND, to add insult to injury, age like milk in absence of proper maintenance, this is it. The modern glass-and-steel architecture is "only" soulless in comparison.
I visited one of Le Corbusier's "creations" once (this one: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cit%C3%A9_radieuse_de_Marseill...)
Soul-crushing is indeed the only thing I could think of while there.
[EDIT]: Here's a good article on function vs form:
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/10/why-you-hate-contempo...
Best quote in the article, on a design from Peter Eisenman (who IMO lived up to his last name):
"A Peter Eisenman building. Note the total lack of plant life. Plant life might accidentally make you feel happy and comfortable, and happiness is a bourgeois illusion. The tiny figures on the left seem to be attempting a picnic on the curve. They are probably cold and windswept—as they should be."
If you are into these sort of things, here's an interesting read: a debate between Eisenman and Alexander where the latter accuses the former of "fucking up the world"
https://www.ahenryrose.com/resources/alexander-eisenman-the-...
A long time resident of Prague. I hate this shit. All of it. If there ever was an architecture designed to squeeze the soul out of you, spit on it, curb-stomp it AND, to add insult to injury, age like milk in absence of proper maintenance, this is it. The modern glass-and-steel architecture is "only" soulless in comparison.
While I tend to agree that brutalist is sometimes an excuse for ugly, even you gotta admit that most of the pictures in the article are quite stunning.
I guess architects are a bit like hedge-fund managers in that regard; they all keep their investments in index funds and not hedge funds.
Complete hypocrisy imho.
I'd like to remark that the black&white photography somehow accentuate this "brutalist" feeling. It doesn't look as bad in reality. (I am also from Czechoslovakia).
I spent almost a year living in a brutalist building in Prague. It was a concrete slab with an huge central courtyard, like a prison yard. You could not access the courtyard, it was dark and dingy. But it was completely full of pigeons. Maybe a thousand pigeons lived there. The inner balcony at the back of the apartment was caked with about 3" of pigeon shit. One day I woke up and found they were power washing the en…
The rest of the city is properly fugly and depressing, communism made its mark that won't go away for next few centuries.
Most colleagues bought rather houses quite far from the city in the middle of nowhere, dooming themselves to another 30+ years of daily miserable commutes by car. These days, even this is unattainable for most due to price boom. Its a strange place, folks are smart, work is often good but I wouldn't want to live there or raise kids no matter what.
I'm presently looking into building my residence using precast concrete. I love the raw concrete aesthetic,all the benefits from an insurance and maintenance perspective. You folks here are making me doubt the resale value...
With enough money and smart uses of glass you can make a house that is made of concrete but getting it right is going to be a big challenge. A good rule of thumb is to use building materials that would be local to the area and climate and then go from there.