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Against a canvas of blue sky and wispy clouds, this striking modern apartment building in Berkeley, California showcases a bold interplay of concrete, glass, and rhythm. Its distinctive zigzag façade creates a sculptural tension between solidity and motion—a dynamic interpretation of urban housing that reflects Berkeley’s evolving architectural landscape.
At first glance, the building’s monolithic concrete surface appears austere, but closer inspection reveals deliberate precision. Each vertical bay shifts slightly, giving the façade a sense of depth and shadow that changes throughout the day. The alternating angles capture light differently, animating the structure as morning turns to afternoon. It’s a contemporary evolution of brutalist design, softened through human-scale detailing and sustainable sensibility.
The building sits along University Avenue, one of Berkeley’s most storied corridors, where decades of architectural experimentation coexist—craftsman homes, mid-century commercial blocks, and new urban infill projects. This structure represents the city’s forward-looking approach to density and sustainability, using concrete not as a symbol of heaviness but as a medium for clarity and permanence. Its rhythmic windows echo the pulse of city life, while the clean street frontage offers a respectful nod to the pedestrian experience.
Architecturally, it embodies the Bay Area’s shift toward minimalist urban housing—simple in palette but rich in geometry. The structure’s sharp angles create deep shadows that lend drama to an otherwise restrained composition. There’s poetry in its pragmatism: vertical repetition balanced by asymmetrical nuance, form driven by function, yet never without aesthetic ambition.
As the photograph captures it, the building feels both monumental and intimate. The warm evening light softens the gray façade, emphasizing texture over mass. Nearby, the red structure provides a counterpoint of color and contrast, revealing how contemporary architecture can harmonize with its surroundings through thoughtful restraint.
In a city known for its architectural experimentation, this building stands as a quiet yet confident expression of modern Berkeley—rooted in function, shaped by design, and alive with urban rhythm. It’s not a landmark by name, but it reflects the evolving identity of a city constantly redefining what home and density mean in a 21st-century context.
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The Museu Oscar Niemeyer was designed by, and is devoted to, the famous Brazilian modernist architect who designed Brasília and was a disciple of Le Corbusier, together with other Para- nanese artists. The stunning principal building is shaped like a giant eye and the whole museum serves as a gallery for diverse shows, which in the past have ranged from Picasso drawings to modern Japanese art. An underground passage, also lined with a range of (always high quality) exhibits and photographs links the eye to a sculpture garden.
www.tripwolf.com/en/guide/show/653181/Brazil/Parana/Curit...
With the conclusion of remodeling and the construction of a new annex, it was reinaugurated on July 8, 2003, with the current denomination to honor its famous architect[1] who completed this project at 95 years of age. It is also known as Museu do Olho or Museum of the Eye, due to the design of the building
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer_Museum
Have a pleasant evening and thanks for visiting.
Welbeck Street Carpark (RIP)
Hasselblad Xpan + 45mm f4 on Ilford hp5 plus, Taken in 2018
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#hasselbladxpan #35mm #hp5plus #45mm #hasselblad #blackandwhitephotography #monochrome #panoramic #brutalism #brutalist #brutalist_architecture #brutlondon #brut #welbeckstreetcarpark #brutallondon #panorama #filmisdead #concretearchitecture #brutal_architecture #filmphotography
#brutalismlondon
Concrete building in Berlin, Germany.
As a reminder, keep in mind that this picture is available only for non-commercial use and that visible attribution is required. If you'd like to use this photo outside these terms, please contact me ahead of time to arrange for a paid license.
photographed by
Frank Dinger
BECOMING - office for visual communication
www.instagram.com/frank.dinger
architecture photography movie by Frank Dinger:
Designed by Erno Goldfinger. I wanted to go up, but there's an intercom system on the doors. Next time I might loiter and ask a resident to let me in. I used to deliver leaflets, and it's normally easy to get access if you buzz.
Hoenheim-Nord (Strasbourg) Terminus and Car Park by Zaha Hadid architects
1998-2001
photographed by
Frank Dinger
BECOMING - office for visual communication
photographed by
Frank Dinger
BECOMING - office for visual communication
www.instagram.com/frank.dinger
architecture photography movie by Frank Dinger:
Auditorio de Tenerife, a beautiful auditorium in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
As a reminder, keep in mind that this picture is available only for non-commercial use and that visible attribution is required. If you'd like to use this photo outside these terms, please contact me ahead of time to arrange for a paid license.
Rising at the edge of downtown Berkeley, Berkeley City College presents a striking vision of modern academic architecture—an interplay of glass, concrete, and light that reflects the city’s forward-thinking spirit. The building’s bold façade balances transparency and solidity: a dynamic expression of how education bridges structure and imagination. Framed by clean geometric forms and a central cylindrical volume, it’s an urban statement of function meeting aspiration.
Designed to integrate with Berkeley’s dense, walkable core, the college embodies the principle of accessibility both physically and philosophically. Its glass curtain walls open the interior to the city, symbolizing knowledge that’s visible, public, and shared. Inside, atriums and open staircases create natural light pathways, guiding students and visitors through a space that feels alive with motion and purpose. From street level, the entry’s symmetry draws the eye upward—an architectural metaphor for academic ascent.
The building’s design language leans on modernist influences, recalling the legacy of California’s civic architecture that values clarity and restraint. The juxtaposition of materials—polished metal against raw concrete, cool glass against warm beige stone—echoes Berkeley’s own duality: intellectual rigor housed in a city known for creative rebellion. It’s a study in contrasts, where precision coexists with openness.
Completed in the early 2000s, Berkeley City College’s main campus stands as part of the Peralta Community College District, serving a diverse student body drawn from across the Bay Area. The architecture reflects that diversity—not ornamental, but inclusive and transparent, built for collaboration rather than hierarchy. The cylindrical form crowning the structure acts almost like an observatory, hinting at curiosity and discovery as its guiding ideals.
Photographically, the building rewards patience. At different times of day, sunlight transforms its planes into a living composition of shadow and reflection. The structure becomes a mirror for Berkeley’s ever-shifting sky, connecting earthbound education with the vastness of possibility.
In a city famous for its Victorian and Craftsman architecture, this modernist landmark offers a counterpoint—a sign that Berkeley’s architectural story is still being written. It honors the same values that built its predecessors: beauty, purpose, and the pursuit of enlightenment.
Tucked away behind the grandeur of the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero in San Francisco lies a hidden gem of brutalist architecture: the hotel's back stairs. Often overlooked, these stairs are a prime example of the raw, unadorned style that characterized the Brutalism movement of the 1970s. Designed by architect John C. Portman Jr., whose vision shaped the modern aesthetic of the Hyatt Regency, these concrete stairs stand in stark contrast to the hotel's more polished, open interiors. They embody the rugged, geometric lines that Brutalism is known for, with their heavy concrete form exuding both strength and utility.
What makes these stairs particularly fascinating is how they reflect the design philosophy of the era, where function often dictated form. The exposed concrete not only provides durability but also creates a sense of monumental simplicity. Visitors who stumble upon this tucked-away feature will appreciate the stark beauty and industrial vibe, a nod to the architectural experimentation that defined much of San Francisco’s mid-century modernist landscape.
For those seeking a deeper appreciation of Brutalism or looking for unique photo opportunities, the back stairs of the Hyatt Regency offer a gritty, unpolished contrast to the gleaming towers of the Financial District. They’re an urban relic—surviving amid the evolving Embarcadero skyline and quietly showcasing how architecture can influence the atmosphere of a space, even when out of the spotlight.