Brutalist Architecture Essay

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Brutalist architecture is defined by as the style of architecture used in the 1950s to the mid 1970s. The characteristics of Brutalism as a form of architecture are angular forms and rough materials, such as glass, brick or concrete. The word brutalism originated from the French, “beton brut”, and means “raw concrete” which was used to describe concrete buildings after the Second World War. The style itself was initially used for many government buildings. Brutalist style became one of the most divisive architectural styles in the recent years. One reason why brutalist architecture is being criticized is because it cannot adapt to its changing environment. A structure built in brutalist style looks out of place when its built in existing developed areas. People argue that it ruins the social, architectural and historic environment of its surrounding. For example, the Barbican Centre in London was voted as “London´s ugliest building” in September 2003. Also it is impossible to change the design and the only possibility to change the building is by destroying and creating a new building. Prince Charles´ opinion about brutalist style was quoted as, “a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London without anyone objecting”. Another reason why people started disliking brutalist style was because of the criminal rates, which are extremely high in those building. Due the cheap prices of the apartments in brutalist structures, a lot of people from the lower income class started moving in. It became a failure of positive communities early on which led later on to high criminal rates. Furthermore, there was a lack of community serving features which developed into claustrophobic tenements. Brutalist buildings were not only ugly in most people´s view but it also became a risk for the people´s life who decided to move into one of those

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