Shouldn't churches evoke feelings of divinity instead of oppression? (I know it's popular to hate on brutalist architecture, but really isn't a place of worship the last place you'd want it?)
[dead]
Brutalist Churches
41–50 of 81 posts
Re: Brutalist Churches
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not natural, grey is a stupid colour, no ornaments. Only architects like brutalism. But I am happy to know that brutalist churches in Germany will be destruct at first than older churches.
> It's not natural A point of brutalism is "form follows function and "showcase the bare building materials" (1) - in other words, that's how the material looks, naturally. Bare, unpainted concrete is in fact more natural and honest than painted concrete. And brutalism deliberately leans into that naturalism (of modern materials). 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture
The impression of Unnatural comes from the fact, that brutalist forms don't exist in Nature. Concrete is everything but not a natural material. Showing it isnt natural.
I am still buffed they are people defending brutalism. It is one of the biggest mistake in Architecture and one day these buildings will vanish.
Re: Brutalist Churches
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's not natural A point of brutalism is "form follows function and "showcase the bare building materials" (1) - in other words, that's how the material looks, naturally. Bare, unpainted concrete is in fact more natural and honest than painted concrete. And brutalism deliberately leans into that naturalism (of modern materials). 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture
The impression of Unnatural comes from the fact, that brutalist forms don't exist in Nature. Concrete is everything but not a natural material. Showing it isnt natural. I am still buffed they are people defending brutalism. It is one of the biggest mistake in Architecture and one day these buildings will vanish.
> I am still buffed they are people defending brutalism
You are confused, describing is not the same as defending.
> It is one of the biggest mistake in Architecture
I don't necessary agree, but I didn't even take a position on that.
> and one day these buildings will vanish.
Over enough time, so will all buildings. But the sturdy one will last longer.
Re: Brutalist Churches
#44Shouldn't churches evoke feelings of divinity instead of oppression? (I know it's popular to hate on brutalist architecture, but really isn't a place of worship the last place you'd want it?)
I don't really see what's oppressive about any of these buildings. Many of the qualities of the divine are recognizable in these churches. Simplicity, transcending of the natural world, and so on.
When people talk about the divine, especially in the Abrahamic traditions, it's common to talk about what God isn't. (negative theology). You shouldn't make an image of God. To approach the divine is to remove everything that isn't divine and experiencing what is left over.
And I think that's fantastically realized in the austerity of these churches. I've visited some of them, my favorite one isn't actually mentioned here, it's a pretty small church outside of Osaka, the Church of Light by Tadao Ando. (https://youtu.be/7ZtfYOD5I8M)
Re: Brutalist Churches
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many of the brutalist churches I’ve seen do not, IMO, “evoke feelings of oppression” (aside from any one might have as a result of personal conflict with the religious institution behind them, which is a separate issue.) Including, I should mention, most of those in TFA.
I suppose we just have to chalk it up to different tastes in art. To me, my first thought on seeing most of those pictures is how they look like settings for some implausibly dystopian sci-fi movie.
No doubt. I find these churches amazingly beautiful.
I also think in the sense of how a church in 1500 was not a relic of the past the way we view a church from 1500 today. I would say a church from 1500 was much closer to what the churches in this article would have been in 1500.
Of course, there is a real issue that while I find these amazingly beautiful I would never go to one because I am not the least bit Christian or religious.
Re: Brutalist Churches
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
I suppose we just have to chalk it up to different tastes in art. To me, my first thought on seeing most of those pictures is how they look like settings for some implausibly dystopian sci-fi movie.
No doubt. I find these churches amazingly beautiful. I also think in the sense of how a church in 1500 was not a relic of the past the way we view a church from 1500 today. I would say a church from 1500 was much closer to what the churches in this article would have been in 1500. Of course, there is a real issue that while I find these amazingly beautiful I would never go to one because I am not the least bit Christ…
Somewhat to that last point, my emotional reaction to these structures would be completely different if I knew they were designed to be car parks.
Re: Brutalist Churches
#47These all look like churches that I would encounter with blood everywhere in the middle of a first-person shooter. They also look like total acoustical nightmares. All that echo-ey concrete, yikes.
Brutalist architecture can be done with good acoustics in mind, it just takes the same sort of planning & design that a non-brutalist building also needs.
The Barbican Centre in the UK is a very famous example of a music (and arts) venue with brutalist architecture, and while its acoustics are considered good but not amazing (or "serviceable", to use the description of conductor Sir Simon Raffle), it could have been much better but its problems weren't caused by being brutalist.
This person's blog is worth a quick read (ctrl+F for the section about the Barbican): http://trevorcox.me/what-is-wrong-with-londons-concert-halls
And I really love the Barbican, including how it looks from outside and including how it feels to sing on its biggest stage. An exterior photo: https://www.ansador.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Barbica... And interior example: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/93/1f/52/931f52e58c9b1a2f9330d050a...
Re: Brutalist Churches
#48Shouldn't churches evoke feelings of divinity instead of oppression? (I know it's popular to hate on brutalist architecture, but really isn't a place of worship the last place you'd want it?)
Many of the brutalist churches I’ve seen do not, IMO, “evoke feelings of oppression” (aside from any one might have as a result of personal conflict with the religious institution behind them, which is a separate issue.) Including, I should mention, most of those in TFA.
Interesting, nearly all the photos in the article did for me.
Re: Brutalist Churches
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
No doubt. I find these churches amazingly beautiful. I also think in the sense of how a church in 1500 was not a relic of the past the way we view a church from 1500 today. I would say a church from 1500 was much closer to what the churches in this article would have been in 1500. Of course, there is a real issue that while I find these amazingly beautiful I would never go to one because I am not the least bit Christ…
Somewhat to that last point, my emotional reaction to these structures would be completely different if I knew they were designed to be car parks.
I don’t have a car, but I would love for the parking garage near me look like the churches in the article (putting aside the practical differences in requirements). Similarly, I would welcome one on these church buildings replacing one of my neighborhood churches just to give us something different to look at.
Re: Brutalist Churches
#50I have cycled to work past this ugly thing in Berlin: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9WQ6PZPg2U8XBzJo6
Although it actually fits quite right in the neighbourhood, which was wholly ruined by brutalist architects.
Some parts were built over beautiful Gründerzeit (industrial revolution more or less) tenement houses, which were demolished for this new "futuristic" district.