The Future of Brutalism?

Nada Maktari

Word Count: 4,733

M. Arch Architecture Year 4 Bartlett School of Architecture

HT01 | Film + Architecture

Tutor: Christophe Gérard

2022-23

Abstract

In the latest Star Wars show Andor (2022), production has stepped back from fully virtual sets, usually a combination of LED Screen simulations and Stagecraft technology, and has taken preference to real set locations, particularly within recognisable Brutalist buildings in the UK. Andor’s creator, Tony Gilroy describes using real set locations as:

“a choice that looks set to add even more grit and earthiness to a series allaboutcapturingthattexture,set atatimewhentheStarWarsgalaxyisaparticularlydarkanddangerousplacetobe.”1 https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/star-wars-andor-doesnt-use-volume-says-tony-gilroy-exclusive/

Showing set locations within the UK ignited a widely positive reaction, sparking interest for audiences, including myself, to spot and visit Brutalist buildings among other locations. Brutalism has been contextualised in many forms of futuristic settings, yet it remains polarised in our reality.

I look to question why we perceive Brutalism as a timeless form of architecture and why it is more suitable to futuristic settings. Th is essay investigates elements of Brutalism that were perhaps seen a s a ‘failed’ agenda since the mid-20th century, and explore how through Andor, if it has re-identified Brutalism as an architecture of the future, further questioning if this would be a futuristic architecture we can now accept as a distant reality.

Introduction

When watching Andor, I recognised familiar structures early on, one of which I found to be the Brunswick centre in Bloomsbury, London. I visited the Brunswick soon after, taking photographs of spaces I recalled seeing in the show. The images of which I chose to share online resulted in an instant fascination over the location and discussions over how a futuristic place can be found ’local’ to our reality. This led me to question why we are intrigued by the Brutalist buildings in Andor, what exactly makes it a more convincing setting rather than a purely conceptual setting within a science-fiction such as Star Wars, and why is it easier to accept Brutalism in Andor as a more realistic, futuristic space. Visiting these buildings generated an investigation of how seeing Brutalism through Andor could alter the way we now perceive them in our own reality For this essay, I intend to use recreated images and my own experience of visiting two Brutalist buildings in London which were used in Andor, as a method of analysis in comparison to intentions behind the buildings when they were designed and how they were initially received.

‘Brutalism’?

The word initially derived from the French word ‘Béton brut’ which translates to ‘raw concrete’, is believed to be inspired by Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles, France, completed in 1952. The building complex of reinforced concrete expressed the emphasis on materials used as found and a large expressive form. The term was first used by English architects Alison and Peter Smithson in 1953 for an unbuilt house project in Colville Place, Soho, comprising of a bare concrete, brick and wood proposal which was described as “the first exponent of the ‘new Brutalism’”. 2

The movement of Brutalism, however, was not officially established until Architectural Historian Reyner Banham’s’ review of Alison and Peter Smithson’s school in Norfolk in 1955. Banham’s writings on Brutalism have been of great significance in influencing how we perceived and still perceive Brutalism. In his published review ‘The New Brutalism’, Banham described:

“In order to be Brutalist, a building has to meet three criteria, namely the clear exhibition ofstructure, the valuationofmaterials‘asfound’ and memorabilityasimage.” 3

However, Brutalism fell out of favour in the 1980’s, it’s meaning has been easily interpreted as literally ‘brutal’, creating an image of a harsh style of concrete, dissociated, and left to decay. Despite its misunderstood meanings, what is interesting is the more recent rise of fetishization for Brutalism. It appears to fall in trend with the modern fascination for ruins and post-industrial decay, which once again displaces the representation of Brutalism

Christopher Linder mentions in ‘Brutalism, Ruins, and the Urban Imaginary of Gentrification’ how Brutalism is “rooted in anxiety over the rise of neoliberal globalization and the ways in which it is transforming urban space, reshaping the built environment, and exacerbating social-spatial divisions.” 4

Initially, the architectural style was mobilised as an attempt to address social issues, possessing a politicalethical dimension. When looking at how Brutalism is represented in cinema, this also feeds into a fascination within fictional urban contexts and culture, specifically within science-fiction. So where does it sit within futuristic films?

2 RIBA Architecture, Brutalism, ‘Brutalism in architecture’ https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/Brutalism

3 Reyner Banham, “The New Brutalism” (Published by Architectural Press, 1 November 1996) pp.127

4 Christopher Lidner, “Brutalism, Ruins, and the Urban Imaginary of Gentrification.” The Routledge Companion to Urban Imaginaries. 1st ed. Routledge, 2019. Pp. 278

Introduction

Brutalism as a Utopia or Dystopia?

Utopian cities depict a modern world where the use of new materials and technological development is provided. The architecture in utopian settings stem from Futurist principles at the beginning of the 20th century, particularly the skyscrapers and industrial elements within the works of Antonio Sant ’Elia’s La Città Nuova. 5

Within dystopias however, uniformity and placelessness dominate through its architectural settings. Dystopias tend to carry a theme of caution; it signals the failures in societies as a form of challenge but also offers utopian possibilities of change if there is a response. Cinema benefits the founded style of the1950s to show a totalitarian society as a “near future” where this dystopia is already possible, evoking its anxiety to the audience. Classical examples of these settings are found in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork in Orange’ (1971) (Fig.1) and Terry Gilliam’s ‘Brazil’ (1985) (Fig.2).

There is an interesting argument where one cannot help to speculate with where Brutalism lies. What is seen as the misinterpreted distinctions of Brutalism parallels in carrying the settings for dystopian narratives, yet it too can offer this puzzle for rediscovery. 6

Although it has been popularised in cinema to depict dystopian settings, it does carry characteristics which would fit within utopian architecture. Before Brutalism was depreciated as an architecture style, it was seen as a positive technological development for urban living. This lack of identity dystopias emphasise through Brutalism can be turned on its head, for Brutalism, despite the uniform and totalitarian style it may show, delivers its personalisation, through its assertiveness.

5 Elif Demirici, “The Future of Architecture: Utopias, Dystopias, Heterotopias”, Re-thinking The Future, (Accessed 11th January 2023) https://www.rethinkingthefuture.com/narratives/a6319-the-future-of-architecture-utopias-dystopias-heterotopias/

6 John C. Lyden, “Film as Religion, Second Edition: Myths, Morals, and Rituals Ch.10 Science-Fiction Films” (NYU Press, 2019) pp.197-215 https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1f8867x.14