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A new apartment building is being proposed in New Haven, Connecticut. New Haven is home to Yale University which has a very prestigious School of Architecture. This has given the city a lot of great architecture which is a bit ahead of its time.
To me this building seems to have tones of Brutalistic Architecture from the 70’s. Is that coming back? I can’t say those buildings aged well. Do you think the s.tyle is coming back like 50’s/60’s architecture seems to have been? Jay
Maybe that building in New Haven is in a Historic District or came under some kind of design review. The Brutalist-like design might have been the resulting compromise to better fit within and compliment the surrounding area?
It probably makes sense that the style will come back eventually, though. Now that we're in more lean times, concrete construction is probably cheaper than the more colorful and varied facades that have been popular over the last decade. Hopefully people have learned from Brutalism's mistakes and can improve upon the style.
Maybe that building in New Haven is in a Historic District or came under some kind of design review. The Brutalist-like design might have been the resulting compromise to better fit within and compliment the surrounding area?
It probably makes sense that the style will come back eventually, though. Now that we're in more lean times, concrete construction is probably cheaper than the more colorful and varied facades that have been popular over the last decade. Hopefully people have learned from Brutalism's mistakes and can improve upon the style.
Nope. This is the first building on the site of the demolished New Haven Colosseum, a shining example of Brutalism itself. I don’t think anyone misses it hunkering over Orange Street. Jay
I’m not really seeing Brutalist architecture here. Reminds me more of a very low rise, International Style, Seagrams Building (and many skyscrapers in Chicago) simple, box-like, softened up with stucco/masonry finished mullions instead of steel and inset balconies.
Brutalist buildings usually entail exaggerated structural/articulated elements of the building thrusting outward or aggressively corbeled vertically, like Godzilla would get cut and bashed up brushing and swinging wildly against buildings like these.
A new apartment building is being proposed in New Haven, Connecticut. New Haven is home to Yale University which has a very prestigious School of Architecture. This has given the city a lot of great architecture which is a bit ahead of its time.
To me this building seems to have tones of Brutalistic Architecture from the 70’s. Is that coming back? I can’t say those buildings aged well. Do you think the s.tyle is coming back like 50’s/60’s architecture seems to have been? Jay
I agree that it may be coming back. It has in visual art and in furniture so why not in architecture. I went to college in Worcester, MA. Clark University. The Goddard Library was and is, a prime example of Brutalist Architecture. Most of us back in the late 70s preferred the building then called "Old Library" over our actual library.
Yeah, the ONLY people who like these horrible grey concrete monstrosities are academic architects. Everyone else recognizes them for what they are: butt ugly. Usually made worse by being plopped down in a barren empty wind swept plaza.
I'm headed back to Germany in a couple of weeks. I have an apartment leased in Chemnitz, a city in eastern Germany about 1 hour from either Leipzig or Dresden. Chemnitz is loaded with "brutalistic architecture" square shaped concrete panel buildings, a legacy of the communist era in former East Germany. These are residential and commercial buildings in the city center and big residential apartment blocks outside the city center.
The city was heavily bombed in WW2, and about half the buildings in the central city were leveled. Not as bad as Dresden, but lots of beautiful buildings were in rubble. After WW2, there was no "Marshall Plan" for East Germany under Soviet occupation or influence. The rebuilding was done however possible for low cost and using the limited resources available. Chemnitz was re-named as Karl Marx Stadt (city) during the East Germany era, and most buildings were re-built similar to what is seen throughout the former Eastern Bloc countries allied with the former USSR. However, the quality of construction was good. Most of the post WW2 buildings in Chemnitz have been refurbished in the last 30 years, and most look pretty good today all things considered. I'll post some photos in a few weeks to give you an idea.
I'm headed back to Germany in a couple of weeks. I have an apartment leased in Chemnitz, a city in eastern Germany about 1 hour from either Leipzig or Dresden. Chemnitz is loaded with "brutalistic architecture" square shaped concrete panel buildings, a legacy of the communist era in former East Germany. These are residential and commercial buildings in the city center and big residential apartment blocks outside the city center.
The city was heavily bombed in WW2, and about half the buildings in the central city were leveled. Not as bad as Dresden, but lots of beautiful buildings were in rubble. After WW2, there was no "Marshall Plan" for East Germany under Soviet occupation or influence. The rebuilding was done however possible for low cost and using the limited resources available. Chemnitz was re-named as Karl Marx Stadt (city) during the East Germany era, and most buildings were re-built similar to what is seen throughout the former Eastern Bloc countries allied with the former USSR. However, the quality of construction was good. Most of the post WW2 buildings in Chemnitz have been refurbished in the last 30 years, and most look pretty good today all things considered. I'll post some photos in a few weeks to give you an idea.
I’m not really seeing Brutalist architecture here. Reminds me more of a very low rise, International Style, Seagrams Building (and many skyscrapers in Chicago) simple, box-like, softened up with stucco/masonry finished mullions instead of steel and inset balconies.
Brutalist buildings usually entail exaggerated structural/articulated elements of the building thrusting outward or aggressively corbeled vertically, like Godzilla would get cut and bashed up brushing and swinging wildly against buildings like these.
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