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Love it or hate it, we can hopefully agree that Brutalism is visually fascinating. The abandoned George Pepper Middle School in Philadelphia was incredibly unique, but plagued with planning issues that ultimately doomed it.

Read about it on Abandoned America: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/george-r-pepper-middle-school
A blocky, Brutalist school facade, with upper floors jutting forward and rectangular recessed areas on the lower floors. The doors are boarded and parts of the building are covered with graffiti.

Abandoned America hat dies geteilt

brutalism ❤️
I always disliked it, frankly, but I do feel that when I'm wearing my photographer hat my tastes are different than when I'm not, and that has helped me understand them a bit better. I like it better as a concept than a built, usable space. But writing off an entire style seems very presumptuous so I judge on a case by case basis 😊
that's fair, haha :) i loooooove brutalism, i would love nothing more than to live in a full-on brutalist minimalist house, for real

stuff like this just SPEAKS to me, haha

https://amazingarchitecture.com/visualization/brutalist-house-iceland-by-lyx-arkitekter
even though I'm not as into it as other styles, I still think it's absolutely fascinating. The design you linked to is amazing! But I'd probably hate living in it, in part because I wouldn't want the interior of my home visible. I also would worry about the longevity and maintenance of the structure, particularly under the pool. But as a thing to look at? Fantastic! It's very striking and cool conceptually.
yes, yes it is! :D i just love the vibe of it! ❤️
I also think there's a distinction between low concept Brutalism - just ugly, bland boxes with no visual flourishes - and high concept Brutalism. That is, of course, subjective. The former I kind of loathe, whereas the latter I think should be considered a separate entity
ok, yeah, i can agree with that, for sure! :D
you should visit the Brut Hotel in Tulsa Oklahoma.

see, that's not so much my style in terms of what I'd say I like architecturally. But it still is of interest both as a photo and a record of what was.
this is a really neat bit of graphic design, that;s for sure.
it's been beautifully updated keeping in the Brut style.
In fairness, though, if someone gifted this to me I'd definitely use it as a vacation home. I'd never be able to afford it otherwise so whether or not I'd live there as a primary residence is a moot point
oh yeah, absolutely - same here, haha! :P
That's kind of modernist-brutalist. Very creative, it fits in with the environment, and in that location, I guess it makes sense to not have green around it, but I'd find that soul-sucking, particularly because there is nothing inside to warm up the concrete. I also wonder, with regards to the environment, where they get their water and how they handle grey and black water.
It strikes me as very much a design that would work as a second home - not one where you'd need storage or comfort, but more as a showpiece vacation pad/swanky AirBNB rental. I agree it seems like it would get incredibly cold. But! I also really like places that are unique, even if I find them impractical. This one looks like a fantastic place to vacation.
how about something like this then? :)
brutalist house
This is also conceptually very cool but I just could not deal with the way the windows expose the interiors in real life. Even if I was in a compound with high gates, it would make me so paranoid.
yeah, that's fair, i can see that
don't let me steal your joy, though! I think they're still interesting, just in a "not for me" sort of way.

But hey, what about a really fun example of godawful Brutalism? Look at this thing I just found. It has many, many unique design choices and I can't say I see a single one that looks like it worked: https://www.reddit.com/r/architecture/comments/1ansvdh/brutalism/
hahaha oh my god, it's like a kid's toy but in concrete. Not sure it's got clean enough lines to earn the brutalist name. Incredible
I would hate to have my tax money spent on this or live near it but it does kind of make me happy it exists, if only because it makes me giggle. It looks like a factory where they'd like lead-contaminated candy in an early Tim Burton movie
oh that's baaaaaaaad
I *still* think it's really interesting but man oh man, not for good reasons
also agreed, hahaha :toucan:
🥥 Brutalism iz brutal, Abandoned. 🥥
I'd have to see more of the inside. I really don't like fish bowls.
ha! That's exactly what I just wrote, more or less
I lived in a brutalist housing complex when I was young. I don't know if that's why but I love brutalism too.

(If you're interested, search for Portsdown Park.)
wow, that was a fun photo dive right there. What a unique looking place, with so many beautiful images of it. Even the demolition ones were compelling. Thank you!
My family moved in there just as it opened and we only stayed there a couple of years before moving out. My lingering memory is water dripping down the walls of my bedroom as the place was built to the lowest cost possible and it didn't even last 20 years.

Oh and they had to cover the walkways as people kept throwing themselves off them.

A friend I made in my teens, we discovered we both lived there when we were young and visited it when it was being demolished.
that is a pretty incredible info drop there. I can't believe it didn't even make it two decades. It seems like a lot of Brutalist buildings have major design flaws/oversights which appear to stem from them working really well as ideas (which I absolutely love them as, by the way) versus actual physical spaces people inhabit or work in. The walkways are a particularly grim example of this. I wish I could have seen the demo, I'm sure that was fascinating
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I drive past that every once in a while. It really is an imposing structure. Would make for a great location or establishing shot in a sci-fi movie.
I agree. The retro-futurism vibe is one I've come to really enjoy, although I would not want to, say, go to school in a place that looks like a sci-fi prison
Brutalism rocks! ❤️
I have very mixed feelings about it that are at wildly different ends of the spectrum. What are some of the examples you like best?
Off the top of my head and limited to places I’ve actually been to, that would be People's Park in Singapore (the colors came later) [ https://www.docomomo.sg/modernist-100/peoples-park-complex ]; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf [https://www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/16097853]; and quite some stuff in Tōkyō, like Tange’s Yoyogi Stadium or Le Corbusier’s Nat. Museum of Western Art. I actually grew up in a brutalist residential building, but it was demolished many years ago, and the attached photo is the only image I’ve left from that time 🙂
Black & white shot of a part of a residential brutalist building with continuous balconies, columns, and access bridges to a stair tower.
thank you for sharing those, and the photo also. Boy, that is a gorgeous image - it has the hazy feel of a childhood recollection of a place long gone. I haven't heard many positive stories about living in Brutalist places. What did you like most about it?
🙏

Not confined and narrow like regular buildings; never any kitchen smells in the stair tower; intriguing corners to hide, play, and discover. There was, e.g., a tiny space in the basement, abt 30 sq ft, between 3 fire steel doors that led to the underground parking, the tenants’ basement spaces, and the stair tower, and when you locked all three, you were in total darkness like in an underground cave (been there too). Also, ppl let you alone.

Anonymity, freedom, exploration!
Oh by the way, do you happen to know this little indie game “Fugue in Void,” originally released on itch.io? [https://moshelinke.itch.io/fugue-in-void ] Loved the experience very much!

Here’s a bit more about it:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/have-you-played-fugue-in-void
that sounds really neat! Wonder if there's a VR mod for it?
I wish! But that would be rare for a six-year-old game made by one person. Also, while people loved it on itch.io, a platform with a strong fanbase for quirky/arty games (it cost $5 at the time, now pay-what-you-want), it predictably took a beating on Steam (at 79 ct), so there wouldn’t be a lot of incentives to recreate it for VR. Bummer, though.
that is a bummer. Seems a natural fit for it.
that does sound neat. Thanks for sharing the happy memories with me, hearing people's stories about places that were a part of their lives always is a treat!
people who love brutalism have never been forced to live in one of those monstrosities
Dieser Beitrag wurde bearbeitet. (4 Monate her)
that's the thing. I think it's visually and conceptually compelling but I sure as hell don't think they're attractive or enticing to live/work in
De gustibus non est disputandum, but no. Just no. Brutalist design looks like blight when it is new.
honestly I don't have the bandwidth or patience to sit here and explain how you're missing my point when you respond like that so I'm not going to 🤷🏻‍♂️
That's a shame, because that's an awesome looking building.
It's a really unique concept, I'll give it that. As an actual space for human students to take classes in, I'm not in love with it. But for photos, very cool.
There was a high school in Syracuse – to call it brutalist would have been forgiving. It was concrete. It had, I think, ONE window. It looked like a prison, and not the good kind. So, by comparison . . .
Yes, middle school was incredibly brutal.
That`s good for a library
I wasn’t aware of this one. Interesting that it was attempted for an elementary school. (I’ve experienced more brutalism in post secondary campuses where I have attended or taught.)

One landmark brutalist complex that is still surprisingly functioning is Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 in Montreal. I always expected it to become abandoned but instead it seems to have a vibrant community that appreciates it. There are tours in summer which suggests that it remains fascinating over half a century after Expo ‘67. I see a unit listed for about CDN $ 2 million.

https://www.habitat67.com/en/

#Brutalism #Architecture #ResidentialArchitecture
We visited the exterior of Habitat 67 when we visited Montreal a few years ago. I'm not sure I'd want to live there but it is undeniably a very cool design.
unfortunately not available here :sadness:
ditto, that stinks. It sounded interesting.
I spent 11 years commuting daily through a Brutalist transit station. "Visually fascinating" seems like an a odd term for "ugly."
Dieser Beitrag wurde bearbeitet. (4 Monate her)
well, you're talking to a guy who photographs abandoned buildings - a subject typically regarded as "ugly" because he finds them visually fascinating. Not sure what you were expecting here.
I love brutalist architecture because everyone who has an opinion about it holds an extreme one on either end of the spectrum.
ha! That's right, it is a conversation starter. I feel like I'm the boring person that feels there's merit to both sides perspectives. That's part of why it interests me.
I don't find abandoned buildings ugly at all. Maybe sad, maybe creepy, maybe something else, but not ugly. But brutalist buildings are just a blot on humanity, even the newer ones.
I mean, taste is subjective, and I wouldn't generally consider myself a fan either although it's a pretty wide range of buildings to be chucking in the bin. But that doesn't mean they aren't a part of the architectural and cultural record. It's sort of like me saying "I don't like country music." It's true, but I still think each example should be judged on its own merits
Dieser Beitrag wurde bearbeitet. (4 Monate her)
That's undeniably true. At least the style is accurately named.
I guess it has more of a ring to it than Concrete Monstrosity
Photographing is different, though. It's seeing a story, lines, history. You're not having to live in it or with it, which is a different thing.
exactly. And I'm very conscious of that distinction. The point of impact between the grand vision and the design failures that are so often found in radical utopian plans is exactly what I find the most compelling. Same thing with the state hospital system, or really any of my abandoned places.
Brutalism is ugly, depressing
people often say the same thing about abandoned buildings. Depressing and ugly things can still be interesting.
Definitely finding it a bit odd that people are stunned and a few seem borderline offended that the guy who spent the last 20 or so years photographing abandoned buildings - which are generally regarded as ugly and depressing! - ALSO could find Brutalist buildings "visually fascinating". Wanting to live in/with a subject and finding it interesting are two entirely different things.
It may be because the abandoned places have an almost Victorian clutter visually and Brutalism tends to be quite stark.
absolutely. And the stark geometry really is set off by decay. My whole rather rigid composition style is all about pitting geometry against things that rebel against it.
Interesting. I’m gonna go back and look at your photos with that added perspective. Cool.
thank you! I worry that having a style to your work becomes a prison to it after a while, but I'm locked in at this point so it is what it is I suppose
There's no accounting for taste! People liked them enough to build them. They are interesting, and I /almost/ like the brutalist style, but it doesn't quite get there for me. Just a bit of tweaking, and I'd like it much better. They're definitely of a certain time. It fixes the period the way art deco does, but art deco's nicer to look at.
I agree 100%, and I think that's a much more nuanced take that approximates my own feelings. I *infinitely* prefer Art Deco/Nouveau. No contest. But as a photographer and historian, I have interest in a lot of things that I wouldn't if I weren't looking at them from that perspective.
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I also love abandoned stuff and find brutalism visually stimulating. I wonder if there's a correlation.... 🤔
could be. Maybe it's an attraction/repulsion thing. For me, things that make me feel any emotion strongly are worth considering.
People are really weird.

Brutalism stands out, it's bold, it's proud. I reckon brutalist architecture makes for fantastic photographic studies - just like the decay of abandoned buildings.
oh, for photos, I love it. There are a lot of buildings I wouldn't say I "like" that I still consider unique and significant.
Push them over the edge! Post an abandoned European brutalist building!
oh jeez, man, are you trying to get me killed? 😄
Many times I find places or buildings beautiful without knowing the history behind them. Seeing something as beautiful doesn't mean you have to agree with what it was there for or stood for. When that happens to me I just let it go and move on.
yep. And even if you do know the history and it is bad, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be examined, discussed, or remembered. Quite the opposite, I believe.
Really great point there. Remembering the past, especially negative things, is very important. Without this we are doomed to repeat it.
thank you, and yes, exactly. Studying failures is the best way we have of not making them again. Sad that we do it so infrequently
Usually its through the application of emotions that cause people to ignore the lessons of the past.
the problem, I think, is taking a wide gamut of buildings and saying the all are equally bad because you don't like a percentage of them.
oh, that's cool. Honestly, whatever the architectural style, happy memories are priceless and nice to hear about.
Brutlism gains so many points when it's not just a massive cinderblock. Shame most seem to be just that.

Also, spellcheck wants "brutalism" to be "botulism". Feels right.
@Tourma yeah, the cinderblock buildings are boring and pointless to me. I get why people hate those. But every now and then someone has a really unique take. Some are failures, some are not, but all of those are places that have their own style, and I can appreciate that.

And yes, I wouldn't be surprised if someone who disliked it did that 😄
yes Brutalism is visually fascinating. Administration Building in the North of #Frankfurt /Main germany
#lostplaces
Leerstehendes Gebäude emty building made out of cement with brown windows. on the ground there is snow
it's both a stark and inhospitable building and a fascinating one. Great photo.
Looks like my old high school -- which is still in use and built by the same architect who built a prison for the criminally insane.
this one does look like a prison, and it shouldn't. No school should.
My old high school. I believe it was built by the same architect as Bridgewater State Hospital. I think they finally tore it down and put in a normal brick high school looking building(s) with lots of windows.
https://friendica-leipzig.de/photo/media/329389
Most Brutalist buildings land in the esthetic vicinity of twelve-tone music: interestingly unpleasant intellectual exercises. It takes a lot of effort to learn to appreciate them.
not a bad way of putting it.
thank you ❤️
they were more interested in concepts around honesty of materials and finishes, and in designing spaces for people and living that could be built out at reasonable costs and that facilitated communication among people and buildings

they were also all exceptionally versed in historical buildings and techniques, which was the opposite of the assumptions I've heard people make

they saw a lot of beauty in vernacular and industrial buildings
anyhow, I learned a lot from these old men about how to think about spaces, and people, and facile assumptions

they're all dead now, of course

but I tell people about them whenever they start talking shit about precast concrete
that sounds fascinating. I wish I could have heard their perspectives too. They sound fascinating
I gave a Father's Day architectural history walking tour with one of them once as a fundraiser and the local paper reported that he was my father

which, since my parents were subscribers, apparently made for an interesting breakfast over at their house
that's funny! I love it