B ru tal ist s e ed Oliver Hessian
In order to interact with Brutalist Architecture on a design level one must first take a position on the Brutalist movement or theory. This in itself can be difficult as defining the Brutalist “style” is confused by the separation of it’s key original contributors and the ripples of enthusiasts over the following 50 years. Each contributor to the movement appeared to have their own interpretation of this style that ultimately was about rationalising the modernist architecture of the 50’s and 60’s. Key ideologies were defined by Reyner Banham in his “New Brutalism” article as being: 1. Memorability as an image 2. Clear exhibition of structure 3. Valuation of material ‘ as found’ These principles define a fairly broad Architectural style, the simplification or architecture was something that appealed to a broad range of people, not just architects. Not only could a new building be current but it could also be affordable and sculptural, achieving an iconic monumentality, that was appropriate for many of the projects that adopted the style. The global education boom in the 70’s resulted in many Brutalist examples being University buildings.