What is Brutalism? | Brutal & Beautiful: Part 1 | Historic England
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- čas přidán 3. 03. 2015
- Our 'Brutal and Beautiful' exhibition takes its name from the term 'New Brutalism', a style coined by English architects Alison and Peter Smithson in 1953.
'Their phrase stood not for chunky concrete but for the use of natural materials honestly expressed, as was first seen in Derek Sugden's house in Watford', says architectural historian Elain Harwood.
This short film features the Grade II listed Sugden House in Watford, Hertfordshire, the Grade II listed Susan Lawrence and Elizabeth Lansbury Schools in London, and the Grade II* listed Balfron Tower in London, designed by architect Ernő Goldfinger.
This is the first of three short films by Alun Bull, James O Davies and Leon Seth about 20th-century listed buildings, written and presented by Elain Harwood (1958-2023).
Elain was a Senior Architectural Investigator at Historic England and worked for us since 1984. She was outstanding in her field, a fierce advocate for twentieth-century architecture and a true heritage champion.
Elain wrote many acclaimed books on her area of specialism, including ‘Space, Hope and Brutalism’ and, more recently, ‘Brutalist Britain’. Her expertise was unrivalled, and she shared it generously with colleagues, the public and her peers through her books, cycling tours, walks and talks. She inspired so many with her enthusiasm for the buildings and places of which she was such a passionate advocate. She will be sorely missed.
I can't get enough of these videos. I was hooked on abandoned house videos for a long time but now I can't get enough of these type of videos.
Beautiful! I can appreciate the lines and the light let into the structures. Marvelous without curtains getting in the way! LoL Brutalist Architecture isn't ugly at all.
Brutalism-ugly and wonderful at the same time, maybe? Like an ugly guy with great charisma that makes him beautiful.
Ask a normal person about brutalism and he’ll say that it’s ugly.
Ask an architect about brutalism and he’s going to talk for 45 minutes.
Balfron Tower in Poplar (at the end of the video) is currently being re-developed. All the local authority tenants have been booted out and once the building is finished the flats, or apartments, will sell for £100's of thousands. The top floors will more than likeley go for a million+ and have more than likeley been sold of plan to investors. Foreign ones probably.
As Derek Sugden state's in this piece, he instructed architects Peter and Alison Smithson, to design an ordinary and basic house for he and his wife. The Smithsons seized on this opportunity and delivered an elegant and understated house that breaks away from the traditional type of house of that time period. It was refreshingly unique. I could easily live in this house today.
I find Brutalism to be the most interesting style so far. Can it get ugly? Yeah, just like any other style.
Excellent.....Will you be making more?
I think the like or dislike of this architecture is a generational thing ! I was born in 67 and when I was little all these blocks if shiny new flats were going up and I was amazed with them , my mothers friend moved into one and we had to go in the lift to get to her flat , wow for a 5 year old that lived in a semi detached 🤣 I loved them then and still do now 👍🏻
Brutalism isn't my favorite architecture style, but I recognize it's sophisticated, clean and great for serious enviroment (factories, corporate buildings, etc...) :)
it was ahead of its time and very flawed, they had a sort of arrogance to paint with such bold strokes that i somehow admire, i have read of many buildings leaking and being either too hot then too cold in winter, slippery tiles on paths etc, i think i have a love for it i can't really explain lol.
Very interesting house there, but the windows are abysmal these days. Crittal steel-framed single glazed windows leak heat like nothing else. That house must either cost an absolute fortune to heat, or be freezing.
Crittal is still around. The original windows of the Sugden house could be replaced with replicated look/double glazed ones.
I understand on a philosophical level that brutalism can be beautiful, but it just feels so unharmonious, detached and oppressive that I can't authentically enjoy it. What is it that I'm missing from the experience?
WZWZW I'd say that's purely personal taste, from my perspective I feel that brutalism was an exciting ideological movement in architecture. Think 'world of tomorrow' in the sense that some people find older generations views of the future easy to laugh at, while others are in tune with that optimism and it gives them a great sense of wonder (like myself) to see a relic of that optimism still here today, always reminding us of that time.
For the most part it's shoddy maintenance and a certain degree of infancy regarding the materials that has left these buildings husks of their former selves, but choosing to look through that, I personally see their size and scale as grandeur, I don't find them oppressive at all, the lines and simplicity in the shapes of the buildings often just make me feel fascinated and amazed.
I can of course, only speak as someone who loves this architecture, I respect however that there's an opposing opinion to everything, and that size can certainly be seen as oppressive to someone who isn't into that scene.
Depends on your outlook to that era more than anything else, I personally feel it was a wonderful period of cultural evolution and Brutalism reflects that departure from the 'old times' if you will.
I understand your opinion. I love brutalist architecture in Public monuments and buildings. Its grandness and oppressive, impressive power gives an intriguing feeling of smallness. It makes you feel like a small part of a vast and powerful world. Yet, I do feel that this feeling for me does not coincide with housing. I love brutalist buildings, but I don't feel that they would work at least for me as a home. We all have differing opinions and that's fine.
youre not missing anything. they are soul destroying..
A defender of Brutalism such as the inimitable art critic Jonathan Meades would say it isn't beautiful, but that buildings don't have to be. He inveighs against the notion that architecture should be twee, pleasant, cute, and inoffensive.
Interestingly, the spirit of criticisms of Brutalism were levied against high Victorian architecture in its day: that it was menacing and imposing; anti-traditional and out of place; ugly and excessively detailed like an elaborate cake (although Brutalism is charged with being the opposite - too bland and drab).
Other people like Brutalism because they can't divorce it from the historical and political message of poverty relief, mass building for the working class, and homes fit for human habitation after decades of uninhabitable slums overarched by inhumane landlordism.
What house is this. I recognize it from Bandersnatch
It's Balfron Tower. (You can see tower name sign on last video scene) The tower used in Bandersnatch is Trellick Tower. Same architect (Erno Goldfinger) and almost identical to Balfron but Trellick tower is bigger.
It’s interesting everyone or majority of people saying it’s ugly but what would they suggest to make it beautiful?
knock it down..
I do like the look of council flats (idk why) but some of the brutalist styles and architecture are hideous. The Trellick Tower looks like a slum.
i like the feeling of brutalism, yet i can't shake the feeling and vibe of The Cube, sort of a secret-gigantic-corporate-human-experiment vibe, like you never know what can be happening behind those walls
I just don't get it, what's really beautiful about it? I'm not an artist or an architect so maybe I don't understand this supposed inner beauty of this abortion.
Brutalism works less in the urban realm and more as “ *object in landscape* “ ... as something emerging from the earth.
However, this video doesn’t really cover the construction technique. ... it actually has nothing to do with “style”... meaning, the focus seems to always be about showing “brutal” examples of mega-housing blocks that had a socioeconomic history of problems (a scenario that would have played out just as much no matter the style or building type or construction technique).
The British Council housing estates were failures because of the way they ghettoized entire populations of a single demographic together without proper mix or other mixed-use programming.
james sterling is certainly stylish, or was at least.
the techniques were breaking new ground, the materials were not really that great at the time, hence leaks, heating problems etc etc i think a lot is to be said of the architects subconsciously recreating a communal student living vibe that they experienced in to their creations too.
This architecture is beautiful.
Are you having a laugh?
😂😂😂 such a classic response but hatred of this style comes so naturally to so many people that they think it’s just an accepted fact that it’s ugly 😄
Brutalist buildings are interesting, but they are unpleasant to look at. After a few decades, bare concrere becomes really dirty and it radiates degradation and they create a decaying atmosphere. I love modern architecture, but brutalism is very unpleasant to me.
They're "beautiful" if you're nostalgic for the past. Being in one of these things is like being transported back to the 60s or 70s. Other than that, they're hideous.
Soul Destroying buildings....