BRUTALISM ARCHITECTURE

1. PHAROS UNIVERSITY IN ALEXANDRIA FACULTY OF ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING FIFTH YEAR FALL SEMESTER 2013-2014 AE135 – HISTORY &THEORIES OF ARCH. 5 BRUTALISM ARCHITECTURE 1950s TO THE MID-1970s PRESENTED TO: DR. GHADA RAGHEB PRESENTED BY: NAHLA MOUSTAFA ID: 5309169

2. CONTENTS • History • Characteristics • Examples • Criticism

3. HISTORY • The best known early brutalism architecture is the work of the French architect le Corbusier, in particular his unité d'habitation (1952) and the 1953 secretariat building in Chandigarh, India. • Brutalism gained considerable momentum in the united kingdom during the mid twentieth century, as economically depressed (and world war ii-ravaged) communities sought inexpensive construction and design methods for low-cost housing, shopping centers, and government buildings. • Nonetheless, many architects chose the brutalism style even when they had large budgets, as they appreciated the 'honesty', the sculptural qualities, and perhaps, the uncompromising, anti-bourgeois, nature of the style. • Combined with the socially progressive intentions behind brutalism streets in the sky housings such as Corbusier's unité, brutalism was promoted as a positive option for forward-moving, modern urban housing. • Some such buildings took decades to develop into positive communities.

4. CHARACTERISTICS • Formed with striking repetitive angular geometries. • Concrete is used, often revealing the texture of the wooden forms. • Rough, blocky appearance. • Expression of its structural materials. • Brutalism building materials also include brick, glass, steel, and rough-hewn stone. • Exposure of the building's functions. Headquarters of the United States Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D. C. Royal Liverpool University Hospital in Liverpool, England.

5. EXAMPLES University Of California, San Diego's Geisel Library • The distinctive original building was designed in the late 1960s by William Pereira to sit at the head of a canyon. • Pereira originally conceived of a steel-framed building, but this was changed to reinforced concrete to save on construction and maintenance costs. • This change of material presented an opportunity for a more sculptural design. • It was envisioned that future additions to the original building would form terraced levels around the tower base descending into the canyon, the first of which was designed by Gunnar Birkerts and completed in the early 1990s. • In keeping with the original master plan, it was "deliberately designed to be subordinated to the strong, geometrical form of the existing library within its two subterranean levels are the other library sections as well as study spaces and computer labs.

6. Habitat 67 Montreal Canada “Moshe Safdie” • Habitat 67 comprises 354 identical, prefabricated concrete forms arranged in various combinations, reaching up to 12 stories in height. • Together these units create 146 residences of varying sizes and configurations, each formed from one to eight linked concrete units. • The complex originally contained 158 apartments, but several apartments have since been joined to create larger units, reducing the total number. • Each unit is connected to at least one private terrace, which can range from approximately 225 to 1,000 square feet (20 to 90 m2) in size. • The development was designed to integrate the benefits of suburban homes, namely gardens, fresh air, privacy, and multileveled environments, with the economics and density of a modern urban apartment building. • It was believed to illustrate the new lifestyle people would live in increasingly crowded cities around the world.

7. CRITICISM • many of the buildings built in this style lacked many of the community-serving features. • The rough coolness of concrete lost its appeal under a damp and grey northern sky. • Inhuman. • Hideous. • Monstrous. • Cold appearance.

8. BRUTALISM TODAY Western City Gate, Belgrade, Serbia, 1980 • Although the Brutalism movement was largely dead by the mid-1980s, having largely given way to Structural Expressionism and DE constructivism, it has experienced an updating of sorts in recent years. • Many of the rougher aspects of the style have been softened in newer buildings, with concrete façades often being sandblasted to create a stone-like surface, covered in stucco, or composed of patterned, pre-cast elements. • Architects from Latin America have been reviving the style on a smaller scale in recent years along with Israel, due to the perceived sense of strength and security the style creates. • Several Brutalism buildings have been granted listed status as historic and others, such as Gillespie, Kidd and Coia's St. Peter's Seminary. • The Twentieth Century Society has campaigned against the demolition of buildings such as the Tricorn Centre and Trinity Centre Multi-Storey Car Park. The Buffalo City Court Building in Buffalo, NY.

9. REFRENCES • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_67 • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Geisel_library.jpg

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