#BrutalMonday
It’s #BrutalMonday! As it is Memorial Day, we’ll go to Dallas, TX and JFK Memorial Plaza. Phillip Johnson used stark concrete to enclose and separate the memorial from the rest of downtown Dallas creating a moment of reflection.
It’s #BrutalMonday! That pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Its Brutalism. Today’s brutal beauty is the Humphrey Federal Building by Marcel Breuer - an absolute stunner.
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#architecture #chicago #chitecture #chiarchitecture #chicagoarchitecture #ilookup #aiachicago #aggregatestudio
It’s #BrutalMonday! Home of the Brutal Frog and some great ribbed bush-hammered concrete, the Boston Government Services Center by Paul Rudolph currently faces a potential redevelopment that isn't sensitive to the building’s design. Hopefully that changes!
It’s #BrutalMonday! This week, we go to Denver and the Downtown Sheraton. IM Pei certainly knew what's up when using precast with exposed aggregate.
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#architecture #chicago #chitecture #chiarchitecture #chicagoarchitecture #ilookup #aiachicago #aggregatestudio
It’s #BrutalMonday! How about we stay in DC for the brutal beauty of DC’s Metro stations by Harry Weese? They're a great bridge of both Weese’s looking back towards history and embrace of raw concrete.
It’s #BrutalMonday! HUD has one of the coolest HQs in DC, the Weaver Federal Building by Marcel Breuer. We should make the White House brutalist too.
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#architecture #chicago #chitecture #chiarchitecture #chicagoarchitecture #ilookup #aiachicago #aggregatestudio
It’s #BrutalMonday! Even Brutalism can be adaptively reused. Take, for instance, the former Boston Five Cents Savings Bank by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood - now known as the coolest Walgreens ever.
It’s #BrutalMonday! Make sure you (safely) look up today, not just at the eclipse but at this beautiful ceiling at the Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco. Pier Luigi Nervi and Pietro Belluschi knew that Brutalism and stained glass were a winning combination.
It’s #BrutalMonday! We would attempt an April Fools' “we don't like Brutalism” joke, but you'd see right through it. Today’s pick is the state Attorney General office by Perkins + Will - every bit a beaut as the Capitol building.
It’s #BrutalMonday! Today’s pick is the 1967 Jones College Prep building by Perkins + Will. It's a great, well-detailed cube, featuring a waffle slab and window fins - a brutal aficionado’s dream.
It’s #BrutalMonday! Today, we’re shipping up to Boston with everyone’s favorite civic building, Boston City Hall! This Brutal beaut by Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles is at once inviting and reflects the stature of being the center of government for the city.
It’s #BrutalMonday! Today’s pick is a brutalist landscape by Lawrence Halprin - Freeway Park in Seattle. It's such a great concrete oasis on top of the highway downtown.
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#architecture #chicago #chitecture #chiarchitecture #chicagoarchitecture #ilookup #aiachicago #aggregatestudio
It’s #BrutalMonday! Here is a brutal frog courtesy of Paul Rudolph’s Government Service Center in Boston to start the week. I hear Concrete the Frog is Kermit’s cousin.
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#architecture #chicago #chitecture #chiarchitecture #chicagoarchitecture #ilookup #aiachicago #aggregatestudio
It’s #BrutalMonday! What better way to start the week than with a donut? It may be inedible, but Gordon Bunshaft’s design of the Hirshhorn Museum in DC turns heads.
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#architecture #chicago #chitecture #chiarchitecture #chicagoarchitecture #ilookup #aiachicago #aggregatestudio
It’s #BrutalMonday! Today, we have an eco-friendly Brutal beauty in the Central United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. It's built into mounded earth and has solar collectors to bring in natural light. Ecobrutalism for the win!
It’s #BrutalMonday! Let’s return to Columbus, Indiana, and Josh’s favorite spot as a kid - Cleo Rogers Memorial Library by IM Pei. Who wouldn't love a waffle slab paired with brick in the morning?
It’s #BrutalMonday! Let’s go to CDMX and the Japanese Embassy by Kenzo Tange. As much as I wanted to go in and explore, the fencing and cameras suggested I do otherwise.
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#architecture #chicago #chitecture #chiarchitecture #chicagoarchitecture #ilookup #aiachicago #aggregatestudio
It’s #BrutalMonday! This week, it's the War Memorial Center in Milwaukee by one of Josh’s favorite architects - Eero Saarinen. Eero certainly took inspiration from the nascent Brutalist movement, even though he was never a stylistically pure architect, as he took inspiration from all over.
It’s #BrutalMonday, and not just because it’s the start of the first full work week in a while! Here’s a sunny fall day at St. Mary’s in Chicago, designed as the hospital of the future by E. Todd Wheeler.
It’s #BrutalMonday and a Brutal New Year! Here’s some innovative exposed aggregate concrete from the Mitchell Park Domes in Milwaukee. The domes truly push the boundaries of what concrete can do, just like Aggregate will be pushing boundaries in 2024!
It’s #BrutalMonday and Brutal Xmas! Here’s Harry Weese’s Seventeenth Church of Christ Scientist decked out in holiday lighting. Weese took inspiration from lots of styles and definitely had his Brutal moments.
It’s #BrutalMonday! Let’s stick with our favorite Bertrand Goldberg and some beautiful winter shadows on the facade of Wright College.
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#architecture #chicago #chitecture #chiarchitecture #chicagoarchitecture #ilookup #aiachicago #aggregatestudio
It’s #BrutalMonday! Time for more concrete housing with Aggregate favorite Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City. Who doesn’t like concrete, corncobs, and the utopian idea of a city within a building?
It’s #BrutalMonday! Time for more Social housing and Brutalism with Aggregate favorite Bertrand Goldberg’s Hilliard Homes. It’s a contrast to Marina City in both residents and in the design of the exterior wall, but just as successful as urban high-rise living.
It’s #BrutalMonday! Another quick trip to Indianapolis and caught the Barton Tower by firm favorite Evans Woollen (who brought Brutalism to Indiana). Barton Tower is currently Senior housing for the Indy Housing Agency. Social housing and Brutalism? That’s a good match to us!
It’s #BrutalMonday! Crosley Tower on the University of Cincinnati’s campus by AM Kinney Associates has stood as a Brutal sentinel since 1969. Sadly, its days are numbered and Crosley is slated to be demolished in 2025. We’ve got to stop demolishing our brutal beauts.
It’s #BrutalMonday! A quick stop in Indy led to the chance to see the new Hotel Indy by Ratio Architects - a fantastic adaptive reuse of the 1970 Lennox Matthews Simmons & Ford designed State Life Insurance Building. Looks like we have a new hotel to stay at in Indy!
It’s #BrutalMonday! Here’s some great Tulane Brutalism - Percival Stern Hall by Curtis and Davis. Rumor has it that the windows spell out “Beat LSU” in punch code, but it’s just an urban legend.
It’s #BrutalMonday! Today’s feature is the Will County Courthouse, designed by Otto Stark. Recently, Josh went to Joliet to speak out in favor of reusing the building, but it seems it will be demolished anyway. This is unfortunate as no Brutalist building should ever be torn down.
