Large-scale brutalism seems to have two distinguishing features.
The first feature is the use of raw concrete (béton brut). Raw concrete was cheap and fast--useful in a postwar period where massive rebuilding was necessary in many European cities. Trying to find make "art" with it was attempting to make a virtue out of a necessity. But raw concrete was not aesthetically appealing to most people, and it gets less attractive as it weathers. However, I don't think this is why so many people hate brutalism with such passion.
The second feature is the use of overhangs and cantilevers to create massive structures that appear to dominate and even threaten the relatively tiny people walking below them. These designs often look actively hostile. And I think it's this hostility of design that draws such hostility in response.
Brutalism to me has always spoken of power. Specifically, power applied in a nihilistic way. A "I'm so powerful, I will build a building that exudes that power but utterly lacks refinement and charm." Prime example? J. Edgar Hoover building
Large-scale brutalism seems to have two distinguishing features.
The first feature is the use of raw concrete (béton brut). Raw concrete was cheap and fast--useful in a postwar period where massive rebuilding was necessary in many European cities. Trying to find make "art" with it was attempting to make a virtue out of a necessity. But raw concrete was not aesthetically appealing to most people, and it gets less attractive as it weathers. However, I don't think this is why so many people hate brutalism with such passion.
The second feature is the use of overhangs and cantilevers to create massive structures that appear to dominate and even threaten the relatively tiny people walking below them. These designs often look actively hostile. And I think it's this hostility of design that draws such hostility in response.
Brutalism to me has always spoken of power. Specifically, power applied in a nihilistic way. A "I'm so powerful, I will build a building that exudes that power but utterly lacks refinement and charm." Prime example? J. Edgar Hoover building