[redactyl]

This is how I think of brutalism, and it makes it very hard to talk about with others. I think the word conjures dystopian images for a lot of people, which is really unfortunate. Maybe it should be abandoned in favor of a more positive-sounding term.

There's a truth though in this idea of honesty about materials that transcends a particular architectural fad, and I think brutalism ought to be an element that any design considers: can a structure be inherently beautiful without additional adornment?

I wish for more examples I could point to as brutalism that aren't just exposed concrete. The only one that springs to mind is this[0] redesign of some post-war brutalist (of the exposed concrete variety) playground equipment. It isn't a big step forward, but it's something. I also think that things allowing like good cable management to be seen is a form of brutalism. Actually, given this post's theme of "eco-brutalism", I think something like the earthship[1] might be a better example of brutalism.

[0]: https://www.assemblestudio.co.uk/projects/the-brutalist-play... [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthship