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Brutalism (and other architectural styles)

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    It's certainly shitty. I try and give the councils some slack because of their budget cuts, but even so. I can see why they might want to take a cash payment from a developer to let them off affordable units in a new block or whatever. If the figures you see banded about are accurate, they do this quite well. But there's definitely a line crossed with some of these wholesale redevelopments of areas with social housing.

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      Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post
      Is that “Googie” architecture? As far as I can make out it’s a term for 60s hyper modern yet rococo with pointless bits and frills. Vegas Modernism. Those pictures look great.
      I think Googie is cheapish modernism, usually with a ton of bright coloured but simplistic adornments. It's often, also, in what is described by some as "titty pink". Think buildings with bright pink and cyan circles fixed to the outside. It's basically Jetson's stuff. Ornamental stars and atoms and chrome and neon. I think of it as very Western American Commercial. So, yes, very 1960s Vegas.

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        Pics of the Espace Niemeyer below, the Oscar Niemeyer-designed HQs of the Parti Communiste Français in Paris, Place du Colonel Fabien (yep, same initials as the PCF, Fabien was a communist resistant).

        Designed by communist Niemeyer who fled into exile in France (where he stayed for 20 years) a year or so after the US-backed military coup of 1964. He reputedly never asked the French PC for a fee, that's what I've read anyway in a few articles on the subject - although this isn't what transpires in an INA clip that I remember watching where the party treasurer claimed that Niemeyer’s fee had been paid by the members’ subs (up to 700,000 encartés in the 1960s-1970s)

        I’ve never visited it but you can visit it now during Heritage weekends (mid September) and possibly through a regular visit programme, not sure. Anyhow, it’s far more open now than it ever was before the 2000s, that’s for sure (well, they’ve been skint for a while and have gone all-out to diversify and create new income streams in the last 15 years or so, even if I remember that it did create an almighty uproar when they started to "sell their soul to the evil capitalism" – events, fashion, festivals, sub-letting one floor to companies, hiring out building for parties etc. They had no choice as they only have about 10 MPs now -a large source of income for political parties in France where parties are now largely funded by the state, because of a long string of financial scandals- and only about 20,000 actual paying members, i.e people who are up to date with their subscriptions. Mind it’s not that bad, the Parti Socialiste has slumped to 45,000 actual members! The PS is even having to sell its huge swanky left-bank HQs in chic 7th district, they’ve just laid off 60-odd employees).

        Mix of brutalist and (retro)futuristic styles. Great views from their roof terrace.

















        Last edited by Pérou Flaquettes; 03-12-2017, 22:29.

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          Niemeyer designed many other buildings in France/Europe and Algeria while in exile, like the Bourse Départementale du Travail in Bobigny near Paris, a communist stronghold since the 1920s.





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            Nothing says brutalism like imprints of wooden planks on exposed concrete.

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              Oh wow.

              SOS Brutalism: A global survey looks amazing, review and summary in the link as well as more samples like, these;


              Rinaldo Olivieri, La Pyramide, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 1968-1973 (threatened.) Photo: Iwan Baan


              John Andrews, Scarborough College (the Meeting Place), Toronto, Canada, 1962-1965. Photo: Thomas Guignard


              Clorindo Testa/SEPRA, Bank of London and South America Headquarters (now Banco Hipotecario) Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1959-1966. Photo: © Federico Cairoli

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                Could also go in the rail thread:

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                  Town Hall House, Sydney:



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                    Is there a name for the style that all residential developments in London seem to be being built in?

                    Big, regular, square windows framed by brick? The brick being purely cosmetic.

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                      Can you give an example? I'm not seeing many like that around here. Except maybe the low rise here:

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                        Yes, like that or these





                        Though now I look for examples they look less alike in pictures than I thought.

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                          Wonderful stocking-filler at Christmas, CCCP, Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed. 440 pages of brutal buildings, including many featured in this thread.

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                            That brick style seems to be the default for much of UK new building now. Maybe the best things I’ve seen being built in scotland for a while are Glasgow social housing in Anderston and “affordable”/social building in the Gorbals/Laurieston. Dark brick in the most part, proper scale. A few new office blocks/reclads in Dublin city centre conforming to the look as well.

                            It’s going to get very old very quick, but beats the hell out of the barcode facades and wacky extraneous jumbles of cladding of the Blair Hegemony.

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                              Heh, that’s Laurieston on Levin’s first pic. Is it Scandi in origin? It looks a bit like what urban planners might have been trying out in Copenhagen 20 years back.

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                                Embra Commonwealth Pool. About as elegant as a municipal leisure facility gets.

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                                  They never let you near that board like they used to. Health & Safety gone mad.

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                                    Whit? You have to be Tom fucking Daley to get on the 10m board now? Surely the splitting your guts open if you belly flop is a myth. I’d only ever jump feet first anyway.
                                    Last edited by Lang Spoon; 18-01-2018, 20:55.

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                                      Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post
                                      Whit? You have to be Tom fucking Daley to get on the 10m board now? Surely the splitting your guts open if you belly flop is a myth. I’d only ever jump feet first anyway.
                                      This is great if you've not had the pleasure.

                                      http://digg.com/video/ten-meter-towe...ogy-experiment

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                                        Very good. Never been more than a 5 metre man. Dunno if I’d be shiteing it either.

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                                          That's brilliant.

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                                            Upon seeing that video last year, one of my American friends living in Sweden quipped, "It looks like a video of Swedes approaching a stranger to ask a question."

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                                              Linus and Frida at about 4 - 5 minutes in are my favourites.

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                                                Originally posted by Levin View Post
                                                Is there a name for the style that all residential developments in London seem to be being built in?

                                                Big, regular, square windows framed by brick? The brick being purely cosmetic.

                                                New London Vernacular seems to be the preferred nomenclature. Rowan Moore used it today on the Grauniad site about just this sort of stuff.
                                                Last edited by Lang Spoon; 21-01-2018, 22:36.

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                                                  As a kid in the early to late 70s. I spent many an hour at the Stavanger Svømmehall. This shot would be from around that time.


                                                  The exterior doesn't look any different today.

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                                                    A brutalist landmark meets Tory venality on Sydney Harbour. Pretty much all social housing now gone from the city centre.

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