Brutalism

The rise and fall and subsequent rise again of brutalist architecture in Britain is a fascinating story of an architectural style that strove to unify but in reality divided public opinion, and continues to do so. Derived from the French phrase ‘béton brut’, meaning raw concrete, the name brutalism identified the emerging style of angular and sculptural form and rough, exposed industrial materials. The pioneering architects of the style optimistically believed they were forging a new utopia, and their confidence is apparent in the ‘truth to materials’ approach, creating uncompromising, bold, even bolshy buildings.Le Corbusier’s Unité D’habitation in Marseilles first set the bar, but it was in Britain that architects such as Peter and Alison Smithson (Hunstanton School, Robin Hood Gardens) Erno Goldfinger (Cheltenham and Brownfield estates, London) Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith (Park Hill, Sheffield) Keith Ingram (Preston bus station) and the Owen Luder Partnership (Tricorn centre, Portsmouth and Trinity Square Car Park, Gateshead) honed the style that came to define the architecture of the 1960s and ‘70s.After decades of vilification, brutalism today is enjoying a resurgence of popularity. The original principles of the movement are being rediscovered and reappraised.Like it or loath it, brutalist architecture is ever-present in the British urban landscape, from car parks and bus garages to schools, universities and cultural centres, from the small college campus to vast residential mega-structures.

Billy Reading is an architectural historian and author who has worked as an Inspector of Historic Buildings and Areas for Historic England for the past decade. He is recognised as the leading expert on the historic fire stations of Britain, and has wide ranging interests within the field of architecture, from the medieval manor house to brutalism and beyond. Billy lives in London with his two retired racing greyhounds.