Brutalism

“Brutalist architecture was a political aesthetic, an attitude, a weapon, dedicated to the precept that nothing was too good for ordinary people.”

Owen Hatherley

Maligned by many, admired by some.

Brutalism was born at the beginning of the jet age in the mid 1950s. A time of post-war optimism, ambition and imagination when a social democratic consensus believed society could make life better for the many.

It was driven by necessity and advanced by new engineering techniques.

By 1945 half a million homes were uninhabitable pre- war slums or had been destroyed by war. The following few years saw the creation of the welfare state and a baby boom which resulted in an urgent need for houses, schools, leisure facilities and civic buildings.

Brutalismʼs patrons were councils, government, corporations, universities and the Church. Cathedrals, schools, libraries, homes, theatres, galleries, offices, shopping centres and factories were all built in this imposing and confident style.

“British brutalism was the heroic anti-austerity architecture of our postwar era, a style of castles for the working class, universities for the freely educated and cultural centres for all.” (Douglas Murphy)

The golden era of brutalism lasted about 20 years until the mid 70s. For the following 40 years its reputation lay in tatters. The buildings were criticised for being poorly built, ugly and hosting a variety of societyʼs ills.

The then Prince Charles could be relied on for some pithy observations. He described the demolished Tricorn Centre in Portsmouth as “a mildewed lump of elephant droppings” and the National Theatre on London’s South Bank as “a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London without anyone objecting.”

As iconic brutalist buildings were demolished, most notably Birmingham Central Library in 2016, people began to campaign for their protection.

As JonathanMeades said in his ‘Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindeness’ (BBC) "There was good brutalism and bad, but even the bad was done in earnest."

There is a growing movement of people who celebrate the beauty of brutalism and the egalitarian visions for which these buildings were commissioned.