Brutalism

olli

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olli
A couple of examples of brutalist architecture round DC. These are both federal buildings, part of a project on 'Big Government' looking at some of the federal government buildings that people coming to DC don't visit (which means everything except the White House, the Capitol, The Supreme Court Building, The LOC and the EEOB). I don't know how far I'll get with this project. Taking photos of federal buildings in DC is not usually a good idea (apart from the obvious ones noted above) and can attract law enforcement attention. But we'll see how it goes.

The first is the Hubert H Humphrey Building of the Department of Health and Human Services, the second is the James V Forrestal Building of the Department of Energy. There are a few more on Flickr / Ipernity.

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Oli, I looked at these earlier on your Flickr stream

I quite like the D of E building - could that be the one I visited in 1985? ( we were looking at buying a couple of vocational training schools in NYC and had to get D of E approval), has it been there that long - cannot quite remember
 
There's an interesting article in the March edition of Monde Diplomatique, for any interested francophones, about early Soviet, constructivist architecture, some by very important artists, decaying from neglect. Sparsely but interestingly illustrated.The article is for subscribers, but the page announcing it is readily available to all, with a couple of great photos on it.

Des monuments de l'avant-garde soviétique glissent dans l'oubli
 
Great theme!

I am very interested in Brutalism, having published and presented papers on Marcel Breuer, the architect of the Hubert Humphrey building. I am sure you already know, but I would also suggest the HUD headquarters, also designed by Breuer. Looking forward to seeing the results of your project!
 
Nice photos. I like the symmetry in the first one.

Most probably touristic areas & smaller cameras are better to take photos, but I was even warned by security when I was taking a shot of a rose w/ a dslr.
 
Bill I'm not sure how long it has been there since it is difficult to find any information about this building online. Maybe I'll stop in and ask when it was built next time I'm passing.

Kyle, I haven't seen City Hall in Boston but I'm going to be looking it up as soon as I finish this post.

Lawrence, there were a few remaining examples of Soviet constructivist influenced architecture when I lived in Tbilisi. Unfortunately (if perhaps understandably) the Georgian government had tried to remove a lot of the remnants of the Soviet era. The best of these is the old Ministry of Highway building now the Bank of Georgia headquarters. It dates from 1975 but constructivism is one of the architectural influences. Despite distinctly remembering taking pictures of it I can't find any of them at the moment. You can see some pictures of it in its BOG guise on the bank's website.

Jason, it's quite possible. My wife is a fan of the show so she would know better than me but the FBI building is certainly in the brutalist style. I hoping to get some pictures of it too so I'll post them eventually.

jporos, are your papers online anywhere? I'd be interested in reading them (if they are intelligible to an architectural layman). I've walked round the HUD building a few times without quite working out how to get a picture of it that does it justice. I'll get something eventually though. If you haven't come across it yet the BBC did a two part series presented by Jonathan Meades called Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry essentially a defence of brutalism against its critics.It's somewhat quirky, as you expect from this presenter but well worth seeing. They are no longer available on the BBC website but they are, for the moment, on Youtube, both part 1 and part 2.
 
Nice photos. I like the symmetry in the first one.

Most probably touristic areas & smaller cameras are better to take photos, but I was even warned by security when I was taking a shot of a rose w/ a dslr.

With cherry blossom season nearly upon us the city will be full of tourists, though many of the buildings I'm interested in are off the tourist trail. I'm sure I can blend in with a few lost souls and get a some more shots. These were all taken with my RX100 - keeping it discreet. I'll get as many as I can but I think that I'll have to pass on our neighbours in Langley and Fort Meade - unless they're reading this in which case maybe they would send me an invitation:)
 
I should say I am not a fan of brutalist buildings, for the most part. I find City Hall here in town to be imposing, cold, and not at all in scale with human beings at the street level. To me, these things look kinda cool and imposing in pictures, but when you walk up to them, you expect storm troopers to come pouring out.
 
I hadn't heard of the term "Brutalism" before this thread, so I have learned something today. I always referred to the style in DC as "Federal Massive".

I think that refers to the budget. Whoops! Little bit of politics there. With apologies to Ben Elton. (Sorry. Third beer tonight).
 
I think that refers to the budget. Whoops! Little bit of politics there. With apologies to Ben Elton. (Sorry. Third beer tonight).

:D The funny part is that skyscrapers are much larger but inspire a certain sense of awe because they reach upwards. Those federal buildings in DC mostly go horizontal for size, e.g., the Pentagon. I had further comments on cathedrals and corporate skyscrapers but I don't want to push all the buttons in one post.
 
Bill I'm not sure how long it has been there since it is difficult to find any information about this building online. Maybe I'll stop in and ask when it was built next time I'm passing.

Kyle, I haven't seen City Hall in Boston but I'm going to be looking it up as soon as I finish this post.

Lawrence, there were a few remaining examples of Soviet constructivist influenced architecture when I lived in Tbilisi. Unfortunately (if perhaps understandably) the Georgian government had tried to remove a lot of the remnants of the Soviet era. The best of these is the old Ministry of Highway building now the Bank of Georgia headquarters. It dates from 1975 but constructivism is one of the architectural influences. Despite distinctly remembering taking pictures of it I can't find any of them at the moment. You can see some pictures of it in its BOG guise on the bank's website.

Jason, it's quite possible. My wife is a fan of the show so she would know better than me but the FBI building is certainly in the brutalist style. I hoping to get some pictures of it too so I'll post them eventually.

jporos, are your papers online anywhere? I'd be interested in reading them (if they are intelligible to an architectural layman). I've walked round the HUD building a few times without quite working out how to get a picture of it that does it justice. I'll get something eventually though. If you haven't come across it yet the BBC did a two part series presented by Jonathan Meades called Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry essentially a defence of brutalism against its critics.It's somewhat quirky, as you expect from this presenter but well worth seeing. They are no longer available on the BBC website but they are, for the moment, on Youtube, both part 1 and part 2.

Wow! That bank is just amazing. It's stunning, in the literal sense; it goes beyond like or not.
I downloaded both parts of the Jonathan Meades onto my tablet (TubeMate) and watched the first part. Interesting and entertaining. There's something appealingly snarky about him.
 


I remembered this thread being here, and have wanted to get a shot of our Rio Grande Nature Center building. As part of it is built into a dirt mound and much of the rest is surrounded by shrubbery, the best shots would be from the pond it looks out on and overhangs. But the pond is for wildlife and boating is not allowed, so I settled for this.
 
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