When I walk into a brutalist space, I feel minuscule and irrelevant.
That's a good feeling! Brutalist structures are like alien megaliths. You see one and go "Holy shit, the world is full of big mysterious things!"
I contrast it with the mall or the fishbowl office building. Those are spaces designed to soothe your every personal need, but the subtle purpose is really to extract value from you. They are superficially pleasant but devoid of meaning. Brutalism on the other hand is a call to adventure, and refuses to coddle anybody.
But maybe you're thinking more of like a Japanese garden, something truly beautiful and contemplative. That's the opposite of Brutalism in a good way, and both have their place. I just hate it when people reject brutalism for being "spiritless" yet welcome the most sanitized, commercialized alternatives.
Brutalism is extremely unimaginative with its one trick being an upset of scale, proportion and balance. It coupled onto the International Style precisely because it is devoid of content.
Comments
That's a good feeling! Brutalist structures are like alien megaliths. You see one and go "Holy shit, the world is full of big mysterious things!"
I contrast it with the mall or the fishbowl office building. Those are spaces designed to soothe your every personal need, but the subtle purpose is really to extract value from you. They are superficially pleasant but devoid of meaning. Brutalism on the other hand is a call to adventure, and refuses to coddle anybody.
But maybe you're thinking more of like a Japanese garden, something truly beautiful and contemplative. That's the opposite of Brutalism in a good way, and both have their place. I just hate it when people reject brutalism for being "spiritless" yet welcome the most sanitized, commercialized alternatives.
When lordleft talked about spaces that were beautiful, I interpreted that as meaning something like a cathedral, not a mall.
Something like an alien megalith is fine... to visit. I don't want to live in one, though. I don't want to work in one.
Brutalism is extremely unimaginative with its one trick being an upset of scale, proportion and balance. It coupled onto the International Style precisely because it is devoid of content.