What's your favourite bit of brutalist architecture?

[Blue Hills]

By the by, for folks interested in the subject of this thread (though it isn't limited to Brutalism) I can recommend this book.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...arch=true&from_srp=true&qid=uI67TaoeJi&rank=1

Author knows his stuff but it's not just for architecture nerds - very readable and has real soul and perspective. Should be read by all too inclined to sneer at what they consider too ugly for their oh-so-refined tastes.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Read most of thread - so far not seen this which rather surprises me.

View attachment 633870

View attachment 633871



Hotel Picadilly Picadilly Gardens. Manchester - first pic from 70s on greying 70s film stock, second more recent though branding of hotel has since changed again.

First time I saw it I was non too sure but now like - looks like a great big creature/robot sitting on its spindly legs over the city.

Though thank god the bigger scheme never got the go ahead:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/broken-dream-streets-sky-over-22727605

which explains why the hotel is so "up there".

Some places were lucky that the age of the rampant car was so brief and that not everywhere was redesigned around it - I love Manchester's concentration of old buildings - commercial/industrial/retail/entertainment etc - the fact that it was left to fester for so long/not flattened makes it superior to London these days I think.

The view from the top floor glass 'pods' on City Tower is amazing on a clear day.

 

[Blue Hills]

The view from the top floor glass 'pods' on City Tower is amazing on a clear day.

what can you see?
what are the "pods"? sound like a later addition to City Tower unless renamed.

 

[BrumJim]

It was on a prime site that could be used for a prestigious office block.

A bit more nuanced than that.

The library was the key tennant in a concrete development that was the height of fashion in the 60s, but had become tired and unloved. Called Paradise Forum due to a historic name for that patch of land, it had become a real misnomer. It was an eyesore, unpopular and heading towards dereliction.

Pretty much like most of Birmingham developments, it is now very difficult to imagine what it used to look like standing on the same spot.

The library itself has moved only a few hundred yards away on a patch of land that could itself have been used for office developments, but is instead an urban (concrete) open space with fountains and stuff. But no flammable sculptures (see "Forward").

 

[Blue Hills]

A bit more nuanced than that.

The library was the key tennant in a concrete development that was the height of fashion in the 60s, but had become tired and unloved. Called Paradise Forum due to a historic name for that patch of land, it had become a real misnomer. It was an eyesore, unpopular and heading towards dereliction.

Pretty much like most of Birmingham developments, it is now very difficult to imagine what it used to look like standing on the same spot.

The library itself has moved only a few hundred yards away on a patch of land that could itself have been used for office developments, but is instead an urban (concrete) open space with fountains and stuff. But no flammable sculptures (see "Forward").

must get back to birmingham - what I saw last time as I cycled round I Iiked - before that years before, I do remember once coming out of New Street Station, looking a certain way down a certain street (can't remember which one) and thinking "cripes everything's concrete". Maybe nuanced is good

 

[Chris S]

The library itself has moved only a few hundred yards away on a patch of land that could itself have been used for office developments,

The new library's site is on the other side of the ring road and far less prestigious.

 

[Chris S]

Called Paradise Forum due to a historic name for that patch of land, it had become a real misnomer.

And the walkway through it was colloquially known as 'Paradise Passage'

 

[Badger_Boom]

Why did they get rid of it?

The council sold the land to a developer for £ lots, and built an equally architecturally controversial replacement that they can’t afford to run and that is considered inadequate by librarians. Quite an achievement.

 

[Grant Fondo]

what can you see?
what are the "pods"? sound like a later addition to City Tower unless renamed.

You can see right over the Pennines on a clear day like today, glass pods are quite small and not for people scared of heights.

 

[GuyBoden]

Not really true Brutalist Architecture, but I studied Engineering at Manchester's UMIST university as a young man and the Renold building was interesting as was the Barnes Wallis building.

Warrington, has a proper Brutalist Architecture building called Newtown house, built in 1976, unfortunately it is ear marked for demolition. Difficult to insulate is the council's reasoning (excuse) for demolition. It's a pity they can't convert it to affordable housing instead.

 

[GuyBoden]

More pics of Warrington's finest true Brutalist Architecture, Newtown House.

Pics, thanks to this site: https://modernmooch.com/tag/new-town-house/

 

[Reynard]

I went to school here:

And then I did my MEng degree here (Brunel University, Uxbridge campus):

 

[Grant Fondo]

Up the road in Wigan .... St Jude's Church

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Have we had the home of Gala Fairydean Rovers yet?

If not, we should have:

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18463822.bid-secure-future-brutalist-masterwork-moves-forward/

 

[All uphill]

Up the road in Wigan .... St Jude's Church View attachment 634151

I'm a big brutalist fan , but even I find that hard to love. The usual acres of tarmac really destroys any chance of this looking good.