A Brief, Wondrous History of Brutalism (FTAO: Beton Brut)

[czsz]

What did this look like before? Afraid I don't appreciate the extent of the transformation...

 

[datadyne007]

What did this look like before? Afraid I don't appreciate the extent of the transformation...

There are before pix in the slideshow.

The UMD (SMU when my mom went there) campus by Rudolph is a dysfunctional utopian mess. This addition brings new life to a once dismal and miserable building to occupy. I love the formal aspects of brutalism, but I have the discretion to admit that it doesn't really work in terms of use.

 

[Brad Plaid]

Whoa...


whoa...

WHOA....

This is what the State Services and City Hall needs. THEY NEED LOVE!

Yes they do. Both are exemplary buildings of their time, the Lindemann a bit less so but it's rear staircase is a Piranesi wet dream. Build a tower where one was originally planned (replacing the hobo park there now) and humanize the street level to make it less forbidding.

I love City Hall but it does need some serious remediation. It's such an indictment of Menino's "leadership" that plans have come and gone for decades and nothing of value has come of it. The subway headhouse revamp will help some but it's only a small piece of the answer.

The Dartmouth campus is a great blueprint for showing that revitalization is possible and will be invaluable in chasing away the torch and pitchfork crowd screaming for demolition.

 

[Beton Brut]

This is a reminder of how truly "symphonic" Paul Rudolph's work could be. As I always say, forget about what these sadly maligned Brutalist buildings have been allowed to become through time and neglect, and imagine what they could be.

This is what the State Services and City Hall needs. THEY NEED LOVE!

Uh-huh...

You know what? THIS should be the best development of 2012.

Word!

Yeah, this project is so damn good I'm glad I wasn't the only one left in awe babbling.

I must be busy if something like this gets past me...

Yes they do. Both are exemplary buildings of their time, the Lindemann a bit less so but it's rear staircase is a Piranesi wet dream.

I'd love to see what Zaha Hadid, or Ken Yeang, or Norman Foster (one of Rudolph's students at Yale) could do to re-imagine this building.

Build a tower where one was originally planned (replacing the hobo park there now) and humanize the street level to make it less forbidding.

There was a proposal I saw some years back that predated the construction of the Brooke Courthouse. It was rather schlocky PoMo, nothing as sexy as what Rudolf intended.

I love City Hall but it does need some serious remediation. It's such an indictment of Menino's "leadership" that plans have come and gone for decades and nothing of value has come of it.

A better entry and circulation plan (including new way-finding signage), interior and exterior vegetation, and a a nighttime lighting scheme would be a good start. City Hall deserves a shot at greatness; its gravitas needs to be tempered with green, and light.

The Dartmouth campus is a great blueprint for showing that revitalization is possible and will be invaluable in chasing away the torch and pitchfork crowd screaming for demolition.

Come to the next meet-up -- I'll buy you a beer, fa'shizzle.

 

[datadyne007]

YES!!!

http://www.archdaily.com/331552/pre...s-brutalist-landmark-spared-from-destruction/

 

[Brad Plaid]

Good to see the preservation movement mature and start to take seriously the landmarks of the second half of the 20th century.

 

[Beton Brut]

I'm pretty stoked about this as well. I spend a lot of time with friends across the Hudson River in Garrison. Next time I'm up there (in the Spring), I should put down my beer for a couple of hours and go take some pics of it.

On another note, there's this recent project that for all the work seems like a glassy retread of Rudolph's original.