A great example of how nature is incorporated within concrete architecture by a series of angled, planted balconies. A small contribution to the current exhibition at the German Architecture Museum (DAM) “Greening the City”, which addresses the advantages and challenges of urban green. Can you think of other brutalist buildings with greenery that you like?
Arthur Erickson: Evergreen Building, Vancouver, Canada, 1978–1980
https://www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/18802013
Photos: © Yevgeniy Chervinskiy
Tomorrow, the public lecture series “Architecture, Art and Society in the Upheaval of the 60s” starts at Saarland University, with a lecture by Dr. Mona Schrempf on the history of this fantastic dining hall from 6 to 7:30 p.m. We are looking forward to it!
By the way: On 07 July, Oliver Elser, curator at the German Architecture Museum (DAM), will give a lecture on #SOS Brutalism.
Here is the link to the lecture: http://www.uni-saarland.de/universitaet/aktuell/veranstaltungen.html
Walter Schrempf / Otto Herbert Hajek: Student House with Dining Hall, Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany, 1963–1970
https://www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/15890515
Photos: © Rainer Hartz 2020/2019
New exhibition on George Finch, an architect who designed many famous landmark buildings of the London Borough Lambeth, including International House and the attached Brixton Recreation Centre, that you can see in these beautiful drawings. 3Space has teamed up with Photofusion, Creative Blocks and Friends of 3Space to produce this small exhibition at International House in London. For more information, follow the link:
https://www.3spaceinternational.co.uk/whats-on/an-exhibition-on-george-finch
George Finch: Brixton Recreation Centre, London, Great Britain, 1971–1985
https://www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/16818799
Drawings: © Kate and Sean Macintosh
Like many Brutalist buildings, the Orange County Government is hotly debated in the media. Heritage-listed since 2011, one section was completely removed in 2015, while the concrete skeleton of the remaining two sections has mainly been preserved and was integrated into a new complex.
Paul Rudolph: Orange County Government Center, Goshen, New York, USA, 1963–1971
https://www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/15891639
Photos: Kerry O’Connor 2015 (CC BY-ND 2.0) / © World Monuments Fund 2015 / © Kim Smith 2018, courtesy of Clark Patterson Lee
How to deal with the Mäusebunker? A student project by Anna-Maria Grimm at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) raised the question of how the animal laboratories of the Mäusebunker in Berlin could be repurposed and how the isolated structure can be opened up to the outside world. In order to preserve the striking form of the building, the roof was opened up and inner courtyards and towers were added. These additionally created areas are enclosed by an intermediate layer that is publicly accessible and allows views inside.
Anna-Maria Grimm, master’s thesis at the KIT Die Geopolitik der Mikropartikel Prof. Marc Frohn / Prof. Dirk Hebel
Drawing/Photos: © Anna-Maria Grimm
A great project for promoting post-war architecture: Die Betonisten and the Mainz/Mainz-Bingen chamber group of the Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Architects have displayed a banner exhibition on the unsightly construction fences of the building site for the renovation of Mainz City Hall, designed by the two Danish architects Arne Jacobsen and Otto Weitling. They’ve created a public venue for explaining and communicating this exciting architecture. Stop by if you can!
City Hall Mainz, Arne Jacobsen / Otto Weitling, Mainz, Germany, 1968–1974
Photos: © Thomas Brenner 2021
Also this impressive building was designed by Warner Burns Toan & Lunde Architects (together with Mathers & Haldenby): the Robarts Library, which due to its fortress-like character is often called “Fort Book”. With its triangular cantilevered spike and projecting elements on the sides, it also bears some resemblance to a turkey. In any case, a striking example of North American brutalism…
Mathers & Haldenby / Warner Burns Toan & Lunde Architects: Robarts Research Library, Toronto, Canada, 1968–1973
https://www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/15892353
Photos: stu_spivack_2008 (CC BY-SA 2.0) / A J Butler_2010 (CC BY 3.0) / Sergei Mutovkin_2001 (CC BY 2.0)
New in our database! In the 1960s, the Campus of Brown University was expanded by several new buildings. With little real estate available Warner Burns Toan & Lunde Architects decided to construct a high-rise library building for the new Sciences Library. Contrasting with older buildings such as the late 19th century and early 20th century colonial revival houses, the Sciences Library is often seen as an intrusive addition to the campus.
Warner Burns Toan & Lunde Architects: Sciences Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 1971
https://www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/20016706
Photos: Kenneth C. Zirkel 2012 (CC BY-SA 4.0) / Brutalismecology 2020 (CC BY-SA 4.0) / Apavlo 2007
One of the many brutalist projects of the Empire State Plaza that we showed you yesterday: The Egg. Unlike the mostly marble clad buildings this one has a beautiful exposed concrete relief.
Paul Sableman: The Egg, Albany, New York, USA, 1978
https://www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/15892463
Photos: © Felix Torkar 2019 / © Oliver H. Eiber
Brutalist aesthetics, but clad in marble: Large scale public complex with by Wallace Harrison. Different architects were in charge of the various buildings.
Wallace Harrison: Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York, USA 1962–1976 https://www.sosbrutalism.org/cms/18801826
Photos: © Felix Torkar 2019
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Museus E Espaços De Exposições, Governamental•Salvador, Brasil 1974
Architect: João Filgueiras Lima
Arch Daily Brazil
