This "Brutalist Architecture" map is fascinating.. [PLAY ALONG]
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- I've always been a sucker for concrete monstrosities. It's not that I think they look nice, they just fascinate me. Join me as I perv at a some of the ugliest and most brazen builds of the 60s and 70s, from jagged, weed covered social housing in France to quite possibly the ugliest hospital the British government ever commissioned. It's a classic GeoWizard play along with a concrete twist.
PLAY ALONG: Play your round, put your marker down, then switch tabs back to CZcams to watch my attempt and the result. This way you don't ruin the game or the video!
Play this map: www.geoguessr.com/challenge/u...
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What are your thoughts on monstrous concrete buildings? Are they heaven or hell? Let me know in the comments, along with how you fared against my score today!
they are hell in the best way
100% hell, depression-inducing, ugly, etc.
Mistook those walls in Montpellier for the city walls in Avignon which look very similar, edged my score against you!
Depends.
If they go for it 100%, it can often be cool as hell.
A lot of the time however it's merely depressingly ugly, like the third place in this video.
Awful to live in but totally badass
i got my testicles scanned in that liverpool hospital. cool building
Electron microscope?
Fun fact i also had my testicles scanned in this hospital too (as well as the one further out as well)
same here testicles scanned in that very hospital
What an odd corner of the internet I found myself in, again. :)
I never have been to Liverpool, but I'll make sure to get my balls scanned there, should I ever go. It seems to be just the right thing to do for the occasion!
@@aknopf8173 liverpool, center of balls scanning.
"Ivry... I wonder if it is a place...", said he with his mouse cursor right on top of said place lol
a true geowizard moment
It’s not a true geowizard vid without at least one of these moments
@@AjZ530 he forgot to check if he is recording though
Hovering your cursor over something means nothing. You have to place it somewhere, that's natural. And noone looks for places or names with their cursor. Your eyes are independent of it. Totally pointless thing to point out.
@@Renee_R343 L comment
You should do more of there architecture maps they are really cool
Their
here
yes i would love to see a modernism map
Hair
@@bellatam_ There are so many modernist buildings though, brutalism is rare. Still love them, though!
9:41 such a painful moment literally the mouse on it
wanted to smack him thru the screen 😂
seeing as the next round was pretty ungettable though all is forgiven
yep
My neighbors heard me yelling "Tom! It's right there!"
he just didnt try on this one
This one deserves a couple more vids - cool architecture, more relaxing pace
About Brutalism in France... Le Corbusier, arguably the the most famous French architect, is also credited as the father of Brutalism. He was already making concrete monoliths even before WW2, He had been experimenting with concrete and how it could change architecture as early as the 1910s.
Yes! “Brutalism” is named for “brut” - “raw” concrete, in English, not “brutal” as in “harsh and unforgiving”. It’s as French as you can get!
yes I hope many are aware of his famous controversial Paris plan. If for some reason you're not, just search it on youtube, it's going to worth your time.
Yes, I visited the Couvent de la Tourette near Lyon, designed by Le Corbusier and it's really the kind of place that leaves a special memory. So unique! While visiting the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona I had felt similar emotions...
he was born as swiss and grew up in (the french speaking part of) switzerland though, i don't know if he really qualifies as french. He just lived in paris
@@Aeraleach While technically true, he grew up only 3 miles from the french border, lived in france most of his life, more of his buildings are in france than anywhere else (by a longshot), and shows up on lists of french architects.
Still though, yes he was Swiss-French.
I love when Brutalist architecture is combined with lots of greenery, there is something nice in that contrast.
Exactly. And I love the post apocalyptic over grown look even more!
Eco brutalism. One of my favourite forms of architecture when done right
I've seen these copy and paste type comments already
@@sugar-lx1jz thats crazy its almost like its a style of architecture that multiple people like
@@joemungus6063 I have no problem with people's taste or opinion about it. But when you see a bunch of copy and paste of the exact same "I love when Brutalist architecture is combined with lots of greenery, there is something nice in that contrast." Then is it really an opinion anymore?
For anyone wondering where the building in the thumbnail is (not in the video). Its in Yerevan, Armenia
Yea, I was looking for that in video, but cannot find it.
Yup clickbait
Kind of disappointed the buildings in the thumbnail didn't come up as I recognised them as a pair of buildings in Yerevan, I thought they were really cool buildings to randomly walk past when I was there last year.
Yup, you can see them from various areas from the city, such a cool place.
What a crazy coincidence. I am in Yerevan for the first time ever today. I recognised it in the thumbnail instantly.
I don't even watch this channel.
FYI some cities in France were also heavily bombed during WW2 explaining the presence of brutalism. Le Havre for exemple was entirely rebuilt after the war, the whole city is drawn in this type of architecture.
Another reason was I think the lack of housing during the 50s 60s and 70s in some urban areas (especially in Paris' region): many buildings (even cities) were built and the architects were given quite some freedom to do what they wished !
But that's not a subject I am really mastering so the explaination might be incomplete !
Not so much architectural freedom as "we need is quickly, and we need it cheaply". That is what became of "brutalism".
From the beginning it was fascination with concrete as a material, it was seen as modern and exciting, and it could be shape weirdly (like the Sydney Opera House and many others).
But it took over and is now just mass produced boxes.
True, you refer to the "villes nouvelles" ("new cities") around Paris such as Évry (south), Cergy-Pontoise (west) or Marne-la-Vallée (east), a huge urbanism plan designed in the 60's to create autonomous poles around the capital.
@@57thorns Yes indeed!
But I was also thinking about some housing projects like for instance in "Noisy le grand" (which were built by Ricardo Boffil ) and had a quite marked esthetic commitment. (Idk if it is a good exemple).
If the economical motivation was indeed important, artistics / political motives were too i think
@@ogamiitto8627 yes!
@@Creed__Bratt0n Most definitely, some places (like Paris, it was place Violtaire) require a lot of upkeep and if there is an economic downturn raw concrete is not known to be water resistant, so quick degradation is expected.
But it sure looked odd and interesting the first ten years or so.
Meanwhile the "commie blocks" were built to last 40-50 years at the most, so they are braking down now as well.
Stone buildings from the 1700s and 1800s were built to last, but are a pain to modernize internally, especially with things like toilets, showers and modern kitchens.
You said you hadn't known France to be particularly big purveyors of Brutalist architecture. Well, the term Brutalist actually comes from French. The French word Brut (meaning raw) is applied to this type of concrete: Béton Brut meaning 'raw concrete'. Basically describing the usage and application of concrete that is then left unfinished...as is synonymous with the BRUTalist architecture. I suppose it was taken as a happy coincidence that the word Brut was very similar to the word Brutal (in fact, they are probably of the same etymological stem in Latin/French) - visual brutality that these stark concrete beasts exude. So, maybe the French were big into Brutalism after all.
By the way, I like Brutalist architecture, as you said: in small doses. I am a fan of 'mid-century' fashion, architecture and futurism generally and brutalism is a snapshot of the thoughts post-war town planners (by the way, 'Unbuilt' is a great book, about post-war town planning ideas). In my home city of Manchester, like most other British cities, there are plenty of eye-catching, stark, impressive concrete behemoths. Many are under threat, such as the famous 'toast rack' to the south of the University of Manchester and other examples in the former UMIST (North) Campus, Reynolds Building with its unusual zig-zaggy facade - I think it is earmarked to go, due to redevelopment. I say keep the unique and interesting ones, get rid if the concrete has deteriorated to a such an extent that it is a streaky mucky grey mess and cracked to f___.
Thanks for the extra info!
Le Corbusier
@@domlee5902 Was looking for this
As a french, when reading the title of the video I wondered if you’d have any other country than France during your game
Absolutely every administration building of every city of the country is a concrete monstruosity. To that, you have to add all the medium and big cities hospitals plus of course the suburb projects. Of course, it’s luckily not what you see the most as a visitor. But as an inhabitant, brutalist architecture feels like home.
The first building shown was the River City Apartments in Chicago, and my uncle had lived there for about a year. If you thought the outside was impressive, look up some pictures of the massive atreum inside. Genuinely one of the most impressive looking apartment buildings I have ever seen. Not to mention the prices really aren't that bad for the location and how modern it is.
There's some fantastic brutalist architecture in the Baltics, maybe they'll feature another time.
That´s just Soviet buildings... They are all over Eastern Europe, and it´s not really brutalist. You do have a lot of the most ornate and beautiful buildings though, the ones that survived the war!
@@olenilsen4660 lots and lots of concrete for sure! I think Linnahall and the Estonian National Library are Brutalist, for example.
@@olenilsen4660 Baltics don't have many ornate old buildings. You can count on fingers true old towns there. He also probably meant true unique brutalism that Baltics have. Soviets while used boring same apartment buildings they had special designs for libraries, sport arenas, government buildings, universities, swimming pools and so on.
@@olenilsen4660 I had thought Soviet style architecture was synonymous with brutalism.
@@pbjbagel Really? I thought you needed some fancy, overpaid architect do draw it first, lol ;)
I loved this! Please do more of this map, I love the obscurity of brutalist architecture, it’s always so interesting, almost like traveling back in time.
it’s technically called the willis tower but no one in chicago calls it that
What do they call it
@@AjZ530 Sears Tower
Is that the big black tower in the early flight simulator games?
@@JohnyG29 Yes. Meigs Field (now closed) on an island just east of the city center of Chicago was the default starting location in MSFS way back when. Sears Tower was very prominent in the sparse skyline of those early games.
@@pguth98 oh, I thought that was just a different one
I've found brutalist architecture interesting ever since I was young, although I didn't know what it was called then; I just thought it was cool that some buildings look like evil lairs. I understand why people dislike it but it creates unique spaces and atmospheres that will never be recreated again
Would love more of these!
Recognised the liverpool one right away. I used to have university lectures in that building! It's just as monstrous (if not worse) in person!
In France, phone numbers land line beginning are :
01 : around Paris
02 : north west like Normandy or Brittany
03: north est (Lille, Strasbourg)
04: south est (Marseille, Lyon)
05: south ouest (Toulouse, Bordeaux)
It could help😊
As a fan of architecture, I was really excited to see you play through this map, and as a Chicagoan I was especially excited to see you get Bertrand Goldberg's River City in the first round. Great vid!
plz play more of these! Love the chilling vibe of the video!
Maps with interesting buildings are great! Thanks Tom, looking forward to more!
I might not like brutalist architecture, but I will ALWAYS like a good Geoguessr play along!
I mean it’s the point that they’re shit
I was lured by the thumbnail as much as I was disappointed not to have it in the game, because I can almost see this twin building from my window.
same :)
Tom, this was brilliant. I watch your videos all the time, but have never played Geoguessr myself. I clicked the link, created an account and struggled to follow along. Heap of fun and more please!
I'd love to see another video on this map, these were awesome!
honestly I could probably watch an hour long video of you doing this. it's so fascinating to me that they built like that
This is Tom at his best! I don’t mind the adventure stuff but watching Tom doing his stuff on GeoGuessr and Geo detective is just brilliant. I could lose hours out of my day watching. Thank you for coming back to it 😍
Am playing along with this and the fifth round is currently a LOT easier than it was when GeoWizard played it.
Loved this video, combined two of my passions, geography and architecture! Thanks
Love those architecture map ! Please continue
I could go for another one, it was fun and interesting. Great vid as always
Great video and great map !
Please do more of these !
They‘re…fascinating. Definitely wouldn’t mind to watch you play some more rounds!
I’d love more of these! I have a real soft spot for Brutalist architecture even though when done poorly and not maintained it can be awful shabby looking
I liked this map - happy to see more!
Great video, great map, I wouldn't mind more of this!
I found your channel a while ago while researching OSINT techniques for geolocation. My favourite videos are geodetective you are amazing in those. I am also addicted to these videos too. I would definitely love to see more of this map. Thank you
I really like the second one i don't know why really. Maybe because it's so aggressive with it's sharp, precise angles and grey concrete while it wrestles with the wild green which is slowly overtaking it. Good stuff.
So interesting! Would love to see more!
Awesome buildings, very cool to see you play this map and I would love to explore that southern france one, there's so much hidden up there.
Great to see my hometown of Widnes being mentioned! Massive fan keep it up Tom 👍🏻
oh wow, these videos are soo fun to watch, so entertaining!!
Loved this video! We got Geoguessr content (already great), plus I did not know much about brutal architecture, and just watching you react to them was so cool! Thank you
I find that first paris sprawling complex very beautiful. The overtaken by nature aesthetic is my favourite. I wish I could explore a post-human extinction city that's been taken back by nature.
Agree that greenery drastically improves brutalism. Complements nicely with the (excessive) harshness of the concrete. Almost make it seem like a rock formation sometimes, definitely with this more haphazardly shaped building. You could call it eco-brutalism, but due to the smaller units it compromises this building is also a well known example of the movement called structuralism, which you may like.
@@hydrocharis1 I came here to comment the same thing, my favorite aesthetic is nature overgrowing on brutalist architecture. There is something so poignant about mother earth reclaiming these structures that have an authoritarian connotation. I like how you compare it to a rock formation, I would love to see a solarpunk world built atop these structures.
Go to Chernobyl.
Chernobyl?
Great game, Tom! I did pretty well this time with 24,767!
Round 1 - When I visited Chicago in 2019 I did the architecture river tour, so I recognized this location immediately, without even turning around to see the Willis tower.
Round 2 was tough, but I managed to cinch it by seeing the Ivry, just as you did. But boy, your mouse was hovering literally directly over Ivry-sur-Seine as you were saying "Is Ivry even an real place?" I was screaming at my monitor haha
Round 3 - This one was really tough. Spent a good 15 minutes scanning the surroundings of Paris for a big roundabout over a motorway with the right angles, but wasn't able to find it. Wound up guessing the complete other side of Paris.
Round 4 - Instantly felt like Southern France to me (I have some family in Marseille) and guessed Montpellier on a whim. Found a spot by an aqueduct that sort of lined up, but sort of didn't, so I assumed it was somewhere else. Guessed anyway and to my surprise got a nifty 4994!
Round 5 - Easy for all the same reasons you mention (Thank you, LiangJi!)
Keep em coming, would love to play this map again!
without cheating, this is the first time i was able to beat you! i really love the play along videos
Just some random comments that will go under months later ... Sears equals Willy's tower Chicago (old vs. new name), in the actual footage it says "Royal Hospital Liverpool" right into your face - and I just found out a few days ago how much fun it is to play along, because GeoPeter mentioned you don't need a GeoGuessr-account, thanks 😊. I'm glad you didn't put a time-limit on it, that stresses me out!
17:34 soon to be demolished Liverpool Royal Hospital! Nice new shiny one opened a few weeks ago, seen that monstrosity everyday for the past 3 years at uni! Love the channel Tom!
Definitely do more! I like these themed videos.
Finally a Play along video👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Cool episode GeoWizard!
we need more of this!
Another one of these I loved it!
Cool vid, please do more like this!
Love Brutalism
@YeahNah22 has an awesome video on brutalism!
@@lunatine7 Thanks, will check it out!
Definitely need a part 2 of this map!
i would love to see more architectural rounds of geogeussr, loved it
Literally watching Tom Curser go over the word IVRI about 5 thousand times whilst looking for the word IVRI... SHOUTING AT THE SCREEEEEEN!
This was cool do more of these!
i'd love to see more of this map, look really fun
Pretty much agree with your take, Tom. I always wonder if the general view of "Brutalist Architecture" would be different if it had a different name? I realise the name comes from the French for raw, as in "raw concrete", but in English we can't help associate it with "brutality". I'm sure it has an effect on how we view some of these buildings, even before we see them, because we already have the word "brutal" in our minds.
quite a funny thing to see your former home in a geoguesser video, loved Ivry, this building and neighborhood had a real countrytown feel in the megapole of Paris
Thank you for mentioning Coventry! Its not the most pleasant place - but growing up there really sparked my love for brutalist architecture and concrete structures, I'm always in awe of things built in that style as a result.
I love watching you looking for bridges or brutalist buildings
This was a lot of fun. I absolutely love the play alongs no matter what the map is! I actually did pretty well on this one with a final score of 20,111
Me and my friends just had a conversation about brutalist architecture/monuments and for the first one to be my home town is almost poetic. Love it!
I’d be up for any brutalist architecture based content from you at all, even beyond geoguesser. It excites me too haha
Tom, I would love to see attempts at a perfect score in diverse world. Even if it's near impossible, it would be so entertaining to see you try. No moving, no time limit, and we can just enjoy your commentary and detective work!
I love brutalist architecture !!! amazing video
Spotted the commie.
@@MrTsiolkovsky dude what?
14:05 France gave Brutalism it's name, and gave the world Le Corbusier.
FYI, Corb is born in Switzerland
Beat me by 58 points. Cool map and great video!
And yes, of course I'd love to see another one!
Heeeey after years of watching this you finally did a shout out of my hometown (Runcorn) Memorable times.
Love the second building, and I actually think the vines on it are really cool!
That was a fun play along
Absolutely loved this
Finally signed up after watching many of your videos. My first ever Geoguesser - far from perfect - 21,072 in 32 minutes. Biggest miss was round 4. I was off in Spain. Thank you for this play along!
same for 4...looks quite iberian to me :)
great game Tom!
I think thats the first time I ever beat you in a play-along.
just followed my gut and got 24,287 :))
to be fair, I was pretty lucky with that montpellier round. it was sort of an insane guess for me haha
I am so proud of myself for instantly recognising the first two. Les etoiles in ivry sur seine is so beautiful honestly.
In french a "rive" means a side, an edge, or a riverbank. So "rives de Paris" litterally means on the side / at the edge of Paris.
I also wanted to point out how the french telephone system numbering works, but POWERFULL Tristan already did the job!
Like english cities, some french cities were flatten to rubble during WWII, but other brutalist and "grands ensembles" came out of necessity due to rapidly increasing population during the 60s combined with exodus from colonies during decolonization (hundreds of thousands fled Algeria for example).
Although a few of these buildings are ...let's say 'iconic' and could be presereved, most are eyesores doomed to be blown off (with some hints of satisfaction when that happen to be honest!)
Thanks as always for sharing your GeoGuessing skills!
This is the first time I've beaten you on a play along! I got really lucky clicking Montpellier.
The Banque Populaire in France are split into different regions- Rives de Paris is for the Paris region.
More of this please!
I love this map! Would love to see more videos from this
We all have a piece of brutalist architecture dear to our hearts
@@HercadosP Yeah. I dont know but there is just something about these buildings...
The final round brought back some happy and brutally painful memories.
Loved the way you zeroed in on Chicago, my home town, using the bridges to correctly ascertain your location. You noted the Sears Tower, tallest in the world for many decades, now surpassed. It's name was technically changed to the Willis Tower several years ago, but many locals refuse to adopt the new name, still calling it Sears. The other massive black tower you were looking for is The Hancock. It's quite a bit further north and was obscured by other buildings. One reason they look similar is that they were designed just a few years apart by the same architecture firm, Skidmore Owings & Merrill. (SOM)
“Melun” made me laugh. It’s exactly what the town is called but hearing you say it so bluntly was great. Another classic video, amazing as always!
Liverpool has some great ones - check the Liverpool Echo Building and even the Air Ventilation Towers for the Kingsway Tunnel
I screamed „there is Ivry there is Ivry“ at my screen like a mad man😅😂
Loved the Penny Lane - London Road bit. Amazing work as always 👏🏼
A lot of people from Liverpool actually cannot stand the Beatles, who gave a big middle finger to their birthplace once they made some money. Probably about the seventh or eighth best artist even from that city, IMO. 🙄
@@WeaselKing1000 I see where you're coming from with that comment and I absolutely respect it. But as a non-Liverpudlian, I tell you they're my favorite band ever, I just love their music.
@@WeaselKing1000 While their pop wasn't the most experimental, they did bring experimental elements into the mainstream, and that shaped pop and rock for years to come.
Are you from Liverpool?
@@stephenoxf I'm not, but I have heard it said by some who are. And yeah, no denying there are many many bands that wouldn't have existed without what the Beatles did first. I just don't care for their music for the most part. My comments get a bit carried away in the small hours of the morning...
Literally live across from the Royal Liverpool Hospital and seeing ur flat on a GeoWizzard vid is rather entertaining🤣
You should do this one again. Really cool to see these concrete monsters.
love it when you play topical music when you're searching
I got a massive clue on my round in Liverpool. There was a new fence installed around the building with gigantic Liverpool New Royal Hospital writing over it
Please do more of this and more like it!
I got my broken wrist fixed at the Royal Liverpool hozzie. Such a horrible place to be ill
love all ur vids tom! maybe try playing geography type games on sporcle sometime? or history would also be fun, idk if thats your thing though
Played along for the first time ever - spent the whole time second guessing myself and ruining my score. Knew it was Chicago, but saw a rowing boat and went for Boston. Knew it was Ivry (the sign on the front of the shop, not the one you saw) but forgot where it was outside Paris and just guessed somewhere north. 19209 total. Frustratingly good stuff! Will definitely play along more often.
Brutalist architecture can look absolutely beautiful! Just look at Nakagin capsule tower, such a shame that it got demolished... beautiful building.