Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/01/11/a-book-about-londons-gorgeou.html
…
1 Like
Does it include Ronan Point?
1 Like
The cardstock they selected for the models is designed to give you extra paper cuts.
I anticipate further books in the series addressing dainty architecture with brutal DIY papercraft models.
3 Likes
It doesn’t look like it, nor does it include the rather nice Brunswick Centre. Particularly sad that the Brunswick Centre doesn’t get more love in books about Brutalism.
1 Like
“IT’S BRUTAL-ist.”
Do wish the circular building had been rotated for the photo so that the shadows from its HVAC units matched the ones cast by the units on the rectangular buildings…
2 Likes
gorgeous
brutalist architecture
Pick one.
I live a few miles from this, uh, thing of beauty.
It was designed to be riot-proof, after a bunch of hippies burned our uni’s Old Main down.
University buildings being “designed to be riot-proof” is one of the student myths that basically every university has- along with dorms that either were built from plans meant for a prison or had to have walls left unpainted because paint would make the rooms/corridors too small.
Jonathan Meades argued that Brutalist architecture achieved greatness through being ‘sublime’ rather than ‘beautiful’. So maybe ‘awe-inspiring’ rather than ‘gorgeous’.
I can sort of see what he means in the Neviges Mariendom:
A couple of major Brutalist buildings have been demolished near where I live; mainly because they weren’t fit for purpose, sublime or not.
3 Likes
The documentary/lecture by Jonathan Meade on Brutalism is wonderful. I grew up on an island covered with bunkers built by the Germans during the Second World War, and appreciate that he touches upon their design in terms of Brutalist architecture.
It makes you wonder how they decided to build a load of brutalist blocks in London, doesn’t it:
Right, but this building is weird. Pictures of stairways painted on walls, in stairwells that go nowhere. Doorways that are just in walls. The floorplan makes it look a lot simpler than it actually is.
I suppose you’re right, but one thing to note is that in this case, the building really was built because an older building was burned down during a riot.
1 Like
Yes, even if you don’t agree with his conclusions, it’s well worth seeing. His recent one on Mussolini’s architecture was good, too.
1 Like
Can’t believe I missed that one, thanks for pointing me at it!
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
