[tragic]

I've noticed, in London at least, that there is a new appreciation of the style among hipster millennial types. You can buy maps of 'Brutal London' with all the great examples marked (Goldfinger's tower blocks, Guys hospital, etc). The Barbican Centre has made that part of its cachet.

I can remember the exact moment I fell in love with the style - I was traveling north on a streetcar on Spadina avenue in Toronto, back in 2005, and I caught a glimpse of the John P Robarts library, and it really did change my outlook. I grew up in Plymouth, which was blighted with poor examples of the style imposed on the town after heavy war damage. Much of the hatred of brutalism stems from the contemptuous attitude these planners and architects displayed to the pre-existing urban fabric.

I felt like the only one until about 5 years ago however, then suddenly there was this revival.

Now I'm more into medieval cathedrals, but it's worth noting that 'sophisticated' tastes were against them for centuries (hence the pejorative term Gothic). I don't think anything can be beautiful without irritating somebody ...

[rsynnott]

> I've noticed, in London at least, that there is a new appreciation of the style among hipster millennial types.

I don't think it's all that recent. The Barbican has been widely admired for a long time, say.