View allAll Photos Tagged brutal_architecture
Brutalist architecture in San Francisco emerges as an intriguing juxtaposition against its iconic skyline. Defined by raw concrete facades and bold geometric forms, these structures stand as monuments to the city's modernist aspirations. From the imposing angles of the Transamerica Pyramid to the austere elegance of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, brutalism leaves an indelible mark on the urban landscape. Its uncompromising aesthetic challenges conventional notions of beauty, inviting contemplation and debate. Yet, amidst the bustling streets and vibrant neighborhoods, these structures assert their presence with a sense of stoic permanence, embodying the city's dynamic spirit and architectural diversity.
Camera: Zeiss Ikon Nettar
Film: Ilford XP2 Super
Scanner: Epson Perfection V550
Software: Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom
Barbican is one of the best examples of how the British did brutalist architecture in their own way. This residential complex has around two thousand apartments, and it was built in an area devastated by bombings during the Second World War.
We were there for the second time last Sunday and took too many pictures of it.
Hilton Chinatown, 750 Kearny Street, San Francisco (formerly Holiday Inn), 1971. Architects: Clement Chen (designer); John Carl Warnecke (project architect). A pedestrian bridge connects the hotel to Portsmouth Square. A rooftop pool with a direct view into the Transamerica Pyramid may be the cherry on the sundae.
What you say? Yay or nay?
Bank of Africa
Nein, nicht wirklich, es ist wohl eine Bank, frag mich nicht was. Sie erinnert mich aber an Lomé, die Welt-Hauptstadt des Brutalismus. Ich bin ein totaler Fan von dieser Architektur.
Klar, Trapani ist ein wenig provinzieller - aber das kann sich doch sehen lassen, oder?
Part of the shopping gallery at the Hauptbahnhof (main station) in Darmstadt - you are meant to feel happy and relaxed here...
Listen to the musical inspiration for this photo - Welcome to the machine
Photographed at a nearly abandoned mall in Espoo, Finland, thinking of Aki Kaurismäki's recent movie Fallen Leaves which I have not seen yet. Both this mall and Kaurismäki's movies take you a few decades back in time.
Espoo, Finland 2023.
Minolta Hi-Matic E
Foma Fomapan 400 shot at ISO 500
Compard R09 One Shot 1+100 90 min semi-stand, 20°C
5 min presoak
Agitation 1st 90 seconds + 15 s at 30 and 60 min.
Australia National University
Architects: Eggleston, Macdonald and Secomb (1967)
Location: Canberra, ACT, Australia
The development of Lake Macquarie has been characterised by the growth of a number of small villages which eventually became the centre of thriving townships and developed into large suburban areas, coalescing to become the City we know today.
Charlestown is one such suburb. It experienced an unparalleled and massive development, between 1961 and 1971 which saw the population increased by about 70% to a total of 21,000 people, making it the largest suburb in Newcastle at the time. This growth, coupled with the rapid introduction of sewerage services to the area lead to a dramatic increase in the use of water and necessitated substantial increases in infrastructure and utilities.
Although a reticulated water supply was established in Charlestown in 1927 and water tanks were provided to Dudley and Whitebridge in 1928, Gateshead in 1942 and Mount Hutton in 1948, these were not enough to cater for the extra demand. In December 1968 the Newcastle Herald announced
"Hunter District Water Board announced plans yesterday for a 70ft. water tower on the reservoir at Charlestown. The tower will cost $60,000 to build. It will be seen for miles around. The tank will store 50,000 gallons of water and will help step up water pressure. The board president (Mr Duncan) said the shape of the tower had been carefully considered since the structure would be conspicuous."
The distinctive shuttlecock shaped tower was designed by British architectural firm Scherrer and Hicks, based on an existing tower in Hertfordshire. Work was completed and the tower became operational in 1969. It is thought that the concrete used in the construction of the tower was made by contractors from Finland.
Strategically sited on one of the area's highest hills, the tower commanded a sweeping view over an area from Port Stephens in the north, to the Watagans, and south along the coastline to beyond Swansea.
The area around the tower had been informally known as Charlestown Lookout for quite some time. In 1976 the lookout was formally renamed Centenary Lookout as part of Charlestown's centenary celebrations that year, and picnic tables and landscaping were put into place. The lookout was officially opened on April 30, 1976.
When the Madison Motel opened on land adjacent to the lookout in October 1981, there was much controversy as it blocked the view to the north east from the lookout. Although several designs for viewing platforms on the tower were put forward in an attempt to restore the view, for various reasons none of these ever eventuated.
Source: Lake Mac Libraries.
Raised Faculty Building, University of Cambridge. Nothing like a bit of Brutalist architecture in black and white after the joy of colour in the recent uploads.
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New City Hall (1965)
This image is part of my Brutalist Toronto project. Brutalism is a style of architecture, popular from late 1950s to the early 1970s, which emphasized "heavy, monumental, stark concrete forms and raw surfaces" - Dictionary of Architecture and Construction
residential building, quartiere stadio, lecce
southern italy, hdr 2008
Le palazzine sono Illuminate dai riflettori dello Stadio Via del Mare, accesi in occasione del match di serie B Lecce-Rimini (2-0), casualmente si possono distinguere in questa ripresa dalla curva qui:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpKSd8Jakiw. Il riflesso sulla base è la cappotta della Opel Corsa su cui era appoggiata la fotocamera.
Stagecoach in South Wales's Cwmbran depot had Stagecoach West Northern Counties Palatine-bodied Volvo Olympian 16099 on loan between late April and late July this year. This was to cover for similar 16444 (N344 HGK) which was defective, and to provide a high seating capacity vehicle for the remainder of the academic year.
16099 was new to Selkent with the usual dual-door configuration, though she was converted to single-door, which is evident by the smaller second window bay, when transferred to the provinces in 2003, like many other London fleet Olympians.
This June shot is of her leaving the southern exit of Newport Bus Station, returning light to Cwmbran depot after a trip from Underwood on Service 64.
Significantly, Newport Bus Station is due to be closed for major re-development in the next few weeks. I doubt though if the brutal architecture of the closed multi-storey car park overlooking it will be missed.
16099 is now back in Swindon, living out her final years for Stagecoach West.
The University of East Anglia's architecturally remarkable grade II-listed Ziggurats, Norfolk and Suffolk Terrace, designed by Denys Lasdun in the early 1960s. Internally updated, they provide on campus student accommodation.
www.uea.ac.uk/stud/undergraduate/accommodation/options/st...
Lasdun first proposed this style of accommodation for Cambridge. He intended that a student should be able to get from bed to a class in five minutes.
"The rear of the blocks is concealed below the walkways, with car parking and bicycle racks. To the front, the stepped section made possible rooms that have a high part facing the countryside and a low part to the rear, making the stairs slightly less steep, with only 12 steps between each floor, but the inner parts of the rooms consequently very low."
Elain Harwood, 4 January 2010, in bdonline www.bdonline.co.uk/revisiting-denys-lasdun%E2%80%99s-uea/...
Grade II listed: historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1390647
The cover for the Streets' album Computers and Blues, released in February 2011, features a Ziggurat. news.bbc.co.uk/local/norfolk/hi/people_and_places/arts_an...
As used here (without asking): www.themodernhouse.com/journal/my-favourite-building-the-...
Brutalist architecthure personified here in Scarborough with Pavilion House, Valley Bridge Road.
In the past it has been nominated by locals as the most hated building in the Town 'Resembling a concrete fortress and a symbol of the Towns decline'.
It houses offices and a court.
I took this in 2017. Apparently its the early 70's built former HQ of the Yorkshire Building Society. Its located in Bradford. I have to say it is quite possibly the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life. It is a monstrous carbuncle of such breathtaking nastiness I really couldn't believe what I was seeing and felt obliged to take a picture. Its called 'High Point'. A name that must surely have been intended as a joke.
My son told me today that he thought it had been demolished which cheered me up enormously and encouraged me to look out this picture. However the only record I can find of any demolition of a modern building in Bradford is of another example of quite recent tat, so it seems this place is still there. Probably because it is apparently riddled with asbestos.....
Bradford is not a pretty city. However it has a rugged grandeur due to plenty of fine stone Victorian buildings. What on earth were they thinking of when they dumped here something that looks like a Siberian nuclear power station or an Oklahoma grain silo?
My God did someone actually DESIGN this? If so, what drugs were they on?