What's your favourite bit of brutalist architecture?

[Badger_Boom]

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Peter Wormersley's magnificent stand at Gala Fairydean Rovers' Netherdale ground. Now back in use after a two year restoration and repairs to spalling concrete.

As originally built there was an open gap between the roof and the back of the seating area which allowed north-westerley gales and rain to blow through and soak the three men and a dog who normally watch the 'Dean. The club soon filled in the gap with advertising hoardings.

As it's a Grade A listed building the repairs had to restore it to its original design and once more the roof appears to float above the rest of the structure.
Thankfully the planners allowed the gap to be filled with a glass screen which keeps the fans dry.

It's a long time ago now but I'm astonished that I spent several summers boarding at the old College of Textiles campus directly opposite the 'Dean and never noticed the stand. For the avoidance of doubt, the spinners and weavers were off doing something more interesting while I was digging up Romans at Newstead.

 

[Mr Celine]

ie a design failure. More sculpture than functional building!

Sculptures can be solid at the back and show graceful poise, delicate balance, precise shapes, intricate patterns...




You won't see any of that pish at a fifth tier Scottish fitba match. But if the game's a bit dull you can always appreciate the beauty of the sculpture. Worth the admission money just for that.
Which, by the way, you hand over at the turnstiles, under the shelter of one of these gems -

Photo is not mine and was taken before the restoration, which has also cleaned and repaired the damaged concrete which can be seen here.

 

[Adam4868]

Blackpool Magistrates

 

[All uphill]

This made me sigh.

Not strictly brutalist as it is a timber structure.

Built as a bus shelter in Ireland the 1970s and more recently converted to shelter cars leaving mere humans to fend for themselves.

 

[Reynard]

This article popped up among the curated news stories that an app delivers to my laptop for my perusal:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...&cvid=e7745e7a33124ef7830c5d0407e193da&ei=107

 

[Badger_Boom]

This article popped up among the curated news stories that an app delivers to my laptop for my perusal:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...&cvid=e7745e7a33124ef7830c5d0407e193da&ei=107

Birmingham has form for this, and at least one councillor who likes to tout the “everybody hates modern architecture” line regularly to support these decisions.

The same fate befell the Central Library, and even listing and a spirited campaign by the 20th century society couldn’t save it. No doubt they’ll claim that flogging off prime (if already occupied) development land is essential because they’re on their uppers.

 

[presta]

I'll go for this one:

The locals all thought it was an eyesore, and out of place in a leafy green village, but working inside with an aerial view of a leafy green village was quite pleasant.

 

[presta]

There's a good series just started on R4 this morning:

Why Boring Buildings Are Bad for Us​

Building Soul - with Thomas Heatherwick

The way cities get built is a quiet global catastrophe affecting all our lives. Buildings are too flat, too plain, too straight, too shiny, too soulless, too boring. This is the belief of designer Thomas Heatherwick.
In this first part of a new series for Radio 4, Thomas is on a mission to explain why this is far from a trivial issue - that it's bad for our health, bad for society and bad for the planet.
Backed by the latest cutting-edge scientific research, Thomas exposes the damage being done by the identikit modern urban environments scattered across the world.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Nothing boring about Brutalism

 

[Grant Fondo]

Actually Futurist ... Our Lady Star of the Sea, Amlwch Anglesey 1937 and Grade II*.
First spotted it on a weeks cycling holiday a few years back.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Ringway Centre Birmingham. (1958)
About to be dropped by all accounts, three big towers up to 56 storeys in its place.

 

[Badger_Boom]

Ringway Centre Birmingham. (1958)
About to be dropped by all accounts, three big towers up to 56 storeys in its place.
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The 20th Century Society and Kevin McCloud among others are fighting a rearguard action to try and save at least some of it. I for one am disappointed that Historic England weren't persuaded to list it the last time it was up for redevelopment.

 

[mikeIow]

The 20th Century Society and Kevin McCloud among others are fighting a rearguard action to try and save at least some of it. I for one am disappointed that Historic England weren't persuaded to list it the last time it was up for redevelopment.

That is properly brutal - a slab of post-war beauty (to some eyes at least!).
Not sure how saving a little bit would help, but who knows…


Not sure if this has appeared before: Southgate House Leicester.
Sat on the inner ring road….used to have an awful underpass for pedestrians when I first moved here in the mid-80s.

I quite like the student flats they threw up to the left of it there, but would love this to be tidied up.

Across the road De Montfort Uni did up the almost similarly designed Edith Murphy House: I quite like this too!

 

[palinurus]

I do have a favourite- is it Brutalist? it's concrete anyhow. Visited a few years ago- Musee Gallo-Romain, Lyon

Bernard Zehrfuss, opened '75. Apart from a couple of window (below) opening on to an amphitheater the whole thing is underground. The entrance is just like a small bunker above ground.

I barely looked at the exhibits.

https://blog.thal.art/the-hidden-architecture-of-the-lugdunum-museum-in-lyon-france/

 

[Mburton1993]

Actually Futurist ... Our Lady Star of the Sea, Amlwch Anglesey 1937 and Grade II*.
First spotted it on a weeks cycling holiday a few years back.
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I remember passing this on my Wales ride last August, it makes an impression.