Westside DIGS | Digital Edition Online

In a great many places, the use of raw concrete is thought incredibly chic. A double trough- sle sink, an expanse of floor, polished open shelving in an industrial lo—its unfinished look is everywhere, from commercial spaces to residential interiors, across the globe. e populari of the material brings one back around to Brutalism, the bold, blocky architectural sle that derives its name from béton brut (French for "raw concrete") and is in the throes of a revival thanks to serious preservation campaigns and digital platforms helping aestheticize it. In truth, Brutalism needs no introduction; some buildings created in its geometricized, highly graphic vernacular predate World War II. But the movement boomed in the postwar world, reaching its peak from the 1950s to the 1970s. During this period, Brutalism was a prominent visual language in areas that experienced intense physical devastation (and a presence where there was none, namely the United States). Its primary material proved an efficient and economical solution for reconstructing housing and civic buildings: concrete was cheap, it was durable, and for a prolific few decades, the obvious choice. Not everyone warmed to this in-your-face form of Modernism, however—Brutalism was about monumentali and brought forth an aggressiveness that many found confounding and cold. Quite a lot of people simply hated it. One must consider if, even unconsciously, the sense of indestructibili that underscored the sle was an alienating reminder of the apparatus of war. Taking shape as it did (oen in the form of government buildings), when it did (during the Cold War), it became easy for some to see a kind of Big Brother lurking in the stripped-down structures. Eventually, it seemed like building aer Brutalist building was, if not neglected, then met by the wrecking ball. Of the structures that stood, many boast some higher architectural value, including Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum in Dallas and Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation in Marseille. "Revulsion was certainly not a universal reaction [to Brutalism], and what is one era's sle is the next era's eyesore, so in the midst of a demolition binge, a new generation is now learning to appreciate what is disappearing," says Virginia McLeod, commission editor for Architecture and Design at Phaidon, which just released the Atlas of Brutalist Architecture. "Demolition and destruction have brought Brutalist architecture to the attention of a wider public." I 16 DIGS.NET | 12.7.2018 (from le) Stamp House, Charles Wright Architects, Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia, 2013, courtesy of Patrick Bingham- Hall; Synagogue, Officers' Training School, Zvi Hecker; Alfred Neumann, Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, 1968, courtesy of Henry Hutter/Zvi Hecker Architect; Vulcania, Hans Hollein Architekt, St-Ours-les- Roches, France, 2002, courtesy of Christian Richters; Atlas of Brutalist Architecture published by Phaidon, courtesy of Phaidon.

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