Brutalism

Britain suffered a large amount of destruction during the war. Post-war reconstruction had to be achieved quickly and cheaply. This was not a time for debate about architectural taste or style, therefore a new architecture developed that was based on pre-formed concrete. The buildings were cheaply-built and utilitarian in character.

As the name suggests, Brutalism was a very stern, aggressive style that had a bloody-minded commitment to the principles of Modernism. Visually, it constituted a “fossilisation” of Modernism. The light, ethereal forms of Modernism were replaced with heavy, solid masses interlocking in complex, abstract patterns. The finish was deliberately harsh and rugged.

Brutalism was practiced by young architects who had studied Modernism. The key influence was Le Corbusier. In his later years, Le Corbusier began to compulsively explore the expressive and structural possibilities of concrete. He designed the Unité d’Habitation (1947-53) in the south of France. This was intended as low cost housing for the working classes. It is a megalithic structure in exposed concrete. The whole thing is lifted off the ground on stilts in order to elevate it above the decay and disorder of the city and it has a rigid geometric form.

Unité d’Habitation (1947-53)

This had a strong influence on post-war architecture in Britain. Le Corbusier described his choice of material as béton brut or “raw concrete”. The British architectural historian Reyner Banham adapted the term béton brut into “Brutalism” to define the emerging style. A notorious example of Brutalism is Park Hill in Sheffield, a mass-housing scheme. This was designed by the architects of Sheffield City Council. Its main inspiration was Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation. Like the Unité, each dwelling is manufactured from standardized parts and the whole is finished in raw concrete, but instead of a single mega structure, it consists of a series of huge hexagonal complexes.