Brutalist Architecture | Calm Bedtime Reading

Relax with calm bedtime reading designed to support sleep and ease insomnia through gentle, educational storytelling. This calm bedtime reading blends architecture and sleep-friendly pacing, offering a peaceful way to quiet the mind during insomnia or restless nights. In this episode, Benjamin slowly explores the history, philosophy, and defining features of Brutalist architecture, from its raw concrete forms to its postwar ideals.

You’ll learn something new while unwinding, as each fact is delivered in a steady, soothing cadence that’s perfect for winding down. There’s no whispering here, just calm, fact-filled bedtime reading meant to relax your thoughts and guide you toward sleep. This episode is ideal for listeners dealing with insomnia, nighttime anxiety, or stress who want something interesting yet gentle to focus on. Settle in, press play, and let your breathing slow as the words drift by.

Happy sleeping!

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I help you drift off one fact at a time.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster,

And today's sponsored episode from Gitanjali R.

Is about Brutalist Architecture.

Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom,

Among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era.

Brutalist buildings are characterized by minimalist construction,

Showcasing the bare building materials and structural elements over decorative design.

The style commonly makes use of exposed,

Unpainted concrete or brick,

Angular geometric shapes,

And a predominantly monochrome color palette.

Other materials,

Such as steel,

Timber,

And glass,

Are also featured.

Descended from modernism,

Brutalism is said to be a reaction against the nostalgia of architecture in the 1940s.

Derived from the Swedish word nybrutalism,

The term New Brutalism was first used by British architects Allison and Peter Smithson for their pioneering approach to design.

The style was further popularized in a 1955 essay by architectural critic Reiner Bonham,

Who also associated with the movement with the French phrases béton brut,

Raw concrete,

And art brut,

Raw art.

The style,

As developed by architects such as the Smithsons,

Hungarian-born Erno Goldfinger,

And British firm Chamberlain,

Powell,

And Bond,

Was partly foreshadowed by the modernist work of other architects such as French-Swiss Le Corbusier,

Estonian-American Louis Kahn,

German-American Ludwig Mies van der Rohe,

And Finnish Alvar Aalto.

In the United Kingdom,

Brutalism was featured in the design of utilitarian,

Low-cost social housing,

Influenced by socialist principles,

And soon spread to other regions around the world,

While being echoed by similar styles like in Eastern Europe.

Brutalist designs became most commonly used in the design of institutional buildings,

Such as provincial legislatures,

Public works projects,

Universities,

Libraries,

Courts,

And city halls.

The popularity of the movement began to decline in the late 1970s,

With some associating the style with urban decay and totalitarianism.

Brutalism's popularity in socialist and communist nations owed to traditional styles being associated with bourgeoisie,

Whereas concrete emphasized equality.

Brutalism has been polarizing historically.

Specific buildings,

As well as the movement as a whole,

Have drawn a range of criticism,

Often being described as cold.

There are often public-led campaigns to demolish Brutalist buildings.

Some people are favorable in the style,

And in the United Kingdom some buildings have been preserved.

The term New Brutalism was coined by the Swedish architect Hans Asplund to describe Villa Goethe,

A modern brick home in Uppsala designed in January 1950 by his contemporaries Bengt Edmund and Lennart Holm,

Showcasing the as-found design approach that would later be at the core of Brutalism.

The house displays visible I-beams over windows,

Exposed brick inside and out,

And poured concrete in several rooms,

Where the tongue-and-groove pattern of the boards used to build the forms can be seen.

The term was picked up in the summer of 1950 by a group of visiting English architects,

Including Michael Ventress,

Oliver Cox,

And Graham Shankland,

Where it apparently spread like wildfire,

And was subsequently adopted by a certain faction of young British architects.

The first published usage of the phrase New Brutalism occurred in 1953,

When Alison Smithson used it to describe a plan for their unbuilt Soho house,

Which appeared in the November issue of Architectural Design.

She further stated,

It is our intention in this building to have the structure exposed entirely,

Without interior finishes wherever practicable.

The Smithson's Hunstenden School,

Completed in 1954 in Norfolk,

And the Sugden House,

Completed in 1955 in Watford,

Represent the earliest examples of New Brutalism in the United Kingdom.

Hunstenden School,

Likely inspired by Mies van der Rohe's 1946 Alumni Memorial Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago,

Is notable as the first completed building in the world to carry the title of New Brutalist by its architects.

At the time,

It was described as the most truly modern building in England.

The term gained increasingly wider recognition when British architectural historian Reiner Bonham used it to identify both an ethic and aesthetic style in his 1955 essay,

The New Brutalism.

In the essay,

Bonham described Hunstenden and the Soho house as the reference by which the New Brutalism in architecture may be defined.

Reiner Bonham also associated the term New Brutalism with art brut and beton brut,

Meaning raw concrete in French,

For the first time.

The best-known beton brut architecture is the proto-brutalist work of the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier,

In particular his 1952 Unité d'Habitation in Marseille,

France,

The 1951-1961 Chandigarh Capital Complex in India,

And the 1955 Church of Notre-Dame d'Or in Rochamps,

France.

Bonham further expanded his thoughts in the 1966 book,

The New Brutalism,

Ethic or Aesthetic,

To characterize a somewhat recently established cluster of architectural approaches particularly in Europe.

In the book,

Bonham says that Le Corbusier's concrete work was a source of inspiration and helped popularize the movement,

Suggesting,

If there is one single verbal formula that has made the concept of brutalism admissible in most of the world's Western languages,

Is that of Le Corbusier himself,

Described that concrete work as beton brut.

He further states that the words The New Brutalism were already circulating,

And had acquired some depth of meaning through things said and done,

Over and above the widely recognized connection with beton brut.

The phrase still belonged to the Smithson's,

However,

And it was their activities,

Above all others,

That were giving distinctive qualities to the concept of brutalism.

The New Brutalism is not only an architectural style,

It is also a philosophical approach to architectural design,

A striving to create simple,

Honest,

And functional buildings that accommodate their purpose,

Inhabitants,

And location.

Stylistically,

Brutalism is a strict modernistic design language that has been said to be a reaction to the architecture of the 1940s,

Much of which was characterized by a retrospective nostalgia.

Peter Smithson believed that the core of brutalism was a reverence for materials,

Expressed honestly,

Stating,

Brutalism is not concerned with the material as such,

But rather the quality of material,

And the seeing of materials for what they are,

The woodness of the wood,

The sandiness of sand.

Architects John Volcker explained that the New Brutalism in architecture cannot be understood through stylistic analysis,

Although some day a comprehensible style might emerge,

Supporting the Smithson's description of the movement as an ethic,

Not an aesthetic.

Reiner Bonham felt the phrase,

The New Brutalism,

Existed as both an attitude toward design,

As well as a descriptive label for the architecture itself,

And that it eludes precise description while remaining a living force.

He attempted to codify the movement in systematic language,

Insisting that a brutalist structure must satisfy the following terms,

1.

Formal legibility of plan,

2.

Clear exhibition of structure,

And 3.

Valuation of materials for their inherent qualities,

As found.

Also important was the aesthetic image,

Or coherence of the building as a visual entity.

Brutalist buildings are usually constructed with reoccurring modular elements representing specific functional zones,

Distinctly articulated and grouped together into a unified whole.

There is often an emphasis on graphic expressions in the external elevations and in the whole site architectural plan in regard to the main functions and people flows of the buildings.

Buildings may use materials such as concrete,

Brick,

Glass,

Steel,

Timber,

Rough-hewn stone,

And gabions among others.

However,

Due to its low cost,

Raw concrete is often used and left to reveal the basic nature of its construction with rough surfaces featuring wood shuddering produced when the forms were cast in situ.

Examples are frequently massive in character,

Even when not large,

And challenge traditional notions of what a building should look like with focus given to interior spaces as much as exterior.

A common theme in brutalist designs is the exposure of the building's inner workings,

Ranging from their structure and services to their human use in the exterior of the building.

In the Boston City Hall,

Designed in 1962,

The strikingly different and projected portions of the building indicate the special nature of the rooms behind those walls,

Such as the mayor's office or the city council chambers.

From another perspective,

The design of the Hunstanton School included placing the facility's water tank,

Normally a hidden service feature,

In a prominent visible tower.

Rather than being hidden in the walls,

Hunstanton's water and electric utilities were delivered via readily visible pipes and conduits.

Brutalism as an architectural philosophy was often associated with a socialist utopian ideology,

Which tended to be supported by its designers,

Especially by Allison and Peter Smithson,

Near the height of the style.

Indeed,

Their work sought to emphasize functionality and to connect architecture with what they viewed as the realities of modern life.

Among their early contributions were streets in the sky,

In which traffic and pedestrian circulation were regularly separated,

Another theme popular in the 1960s.

This still had a strong position in the architecture of European communist countries from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s.

In Czechoslovakia,

Brutalism was presented as an attempt to create a national but also modern socialist architectural style.

Such prefabricated socialist-era buildings are called panalaka.

A sub-genre of brutalism is brick-brutalism or brickalism,

Where the dominant structural material is brick rather than concrete.

Examples range from the Smithson's house in Soho,

1952,

To Colin St.

John Wilson's British Library,

1982 to 1998.

In the United Kingdom,

Architects associated with the brutalist style include the wife and husband team of Allison and Peter Smithson,

Who pioneered the style,

Arnaud Goldfinger,

Some of the work of Sir Basil Spence,

The London County Council or Greater London Council Architects Department,

Owen Lutter,

John Bancroft,

Norman Engelback,

Who designed the Hayward Gallery,

And arguably perhaps Sir Dennis Lasden,

Whose work included the brutalist National Theatre,

Sir Leslie Martin,

Sir James Stirling,

And James Gowan with their early works.

Partnerships included Chamberlain,

Powell,

And Bonn,

Who designed the Barbican Centre.

Evans,

Wool and III is credited for introducing the brutalist and modernist architecture styles to Indianapolis,

Indiana.

Walter Netsch is known for his brutalist academic buildings.

Marcel Brouwer was known for his soft approach to the style,

Often using curves rather than corners.

In Atlanta,

Georgia,

The architectural style was introduced to Buckhead's affluent Peachtree Road,

With the Ted Levy-designed Plaza Towers and Park Place on Peachtree Condominiums.

Architectural historian William Jordy said that although Louis Kahn was opposed to what he regarded as the muscular posturing of most Brutalism,

Some of his work was surely informed by some of the same ideas that came to momentary focus in Brutalist position.

In Australia,

Architects working in the Brutalist style included Robin Gibson,

Designer of the Queensland Art Gallery,

Ken Woolley,

Designer of the Fisher Library at the University of Sydney,

Christopher Kringes,

Who built the High Court of Australia building.

John Andrews's government and institutional structures in Australia also exhibit the style.

Daryl Jackson and Kevin Borland designed one of the first Brutalist buildings in Melbourne.

The Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre in Malvern in 1967.

Vancouver-based architect Arthur Erickson was responsible for several notable Brutalist developments,

Including Simon Fraser University's main campus building,

The Macmillan-Bledell building,

The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia,

And the Vancouver Law Courts.

The City of Winnipeg is noted for significant contributions to Brutalist architecture in Canada,

Including the Winnipeg Civic Centre,

As well as the University of Manitoba Students' Union building,

And Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre,

Both by Weissman,

Ross,

Blankstein,

Koop,

Gilmore,

Hanna,

Now No.

10 Architectural Group.

In Argentina,

The main representative of Brutalism was Clorindo Testa,

Who designed the Banco de Londres y América del Sur headquarters and the National Library of Argentina.

Federico Peralta Ramos was responsible for the Entel building.

Early examples of Brutalist architecture in British universities include the Beehives at St.

John's College,

Oxford,

And the extension to the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge in 1959,

Under the influence of Leslie Martin,

The head of the department,

And designed by Colin St.

John Wilson and Alex Hardy,

With participation by students at the university.

This inspired further Brutalist buildings in Cambridge,

Including the Grade II Listed University Centre and the Grade II Listed Churchill College.

The Grade II Listed History Faculty building is described in its listing as a distinctive example of a new approach to education buildings,

From a period when the universities were at the forefront of architectural patronage.

It was the second building in architect James Stirling's Red Trilogy,

Which started with the University of Leicester Engineering building,

Designed to reflect the vernacular architecture of Leicester's factories and sometimes regarded as the first post-modern building in Britain,

And concluded with the Florey building at Queen's College,

Oxford.

The building of new universities in the UK in the 1960s led to opportunities for Brutalist architects.

The first to be built was the University of Sussex,

Designed by Basil Spence,

With the Grade I Listed Fulmer House as its centrepiece.

The building has been described as a meeting of arts and crafts with modernism,

With features such as handmade bricks that contrast the pre-fabricated construction of other 1960s campuses,

And colonnades of bare board-marked concrete arches on brick piers inspired by the Coliseum.

It is also considered one of the key Brutalist buildings by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

It has,

In a reversal of the usual situation for Brutalist architecture,

Received popular acclaim while being less liked by professional critics,

And is sometimes described as picturesque rather than Brutalist.

Denys Lasdun's work at the University of East Anglia,

Including six linked halls of residence in Norfolk Terrace and four linked halls of residence in Suffolk Terrace,

Commonly referred to as the Ziggurats,

And the library and teaching wall between them,

Is considered one of the finest examples of a 1960s Brutalist university campus.

The Ziggurats were closed in 2023 as part of the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete crisis,

With no date set for their refurbishments as of February 2025.

Another notable example is the Central Hall of the University of York,

With its surrounding colleges designed by Sirot Johnson Marshall and Andrew Derbyshire.

The reinforced concrete of the Central Hall gives a contrast to the colleges,

Which were the first university buildings built using the clasp-prefabricated system originally developed for school buildings.

The same architectural practice would go on to build the universities of Bath,

Stirling,

And Ulster.

The Grade II listed lecture block at Brunel University was used as a location in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film,

A Clockwork Orange.

The central campus complex of the University of Essex was designed by Kenneth Kappen of the Architects' Co-Partnership,

With complementary concrete extensions by Patel Taylor,

Matching the Brutalist aesthetic in 2015.

A notable pairing of Brutalist campus buildings is found at Durham University,

With Ova Arab's Grade I listed Kingsgate Bridge,

One of only six post-1961 buildings to have been listed as Grade I by 2017.

And the Grade II listed Dunham House,

Described in its listing as the foremost students' union building of the post-war era in England,

But only saved from demolition in 2021,

Following a five-year campaign by the 20th Century Society.

Dunham House was designed to reflect the vernacular architecture of a city in the way its multiple levels cascade down the riverbank,

Breaking up the bulk of the building.

This led Pevsner to describe it as brutal by tradition,

But not brutal to the landscape,

And to it being praised as a Brutalist building that works well in its setting,

Even by opponents of the style.

One of the earliest Brutalist buildings in the U.

S.

Was Paul Rudolph's 1963 Art and Architecture building at Yale University,

Where as department chair he was both client and architect,

Giving him a unique freedom to explore new directions.

Rudolph's 1964 design for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is a rare example of an entire campus designed in the Brutalist style,

And was considered by him to be the complete realization of his experiments with urbanism and monumentality.

Walter Netsch similarly designed the entire University of Illinois Chicago Circle campus,

Now the East Campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago,

Under a single unified Brutalist design.

Netsch also designed the Brutalist Joseph Regenstein Library for the University of Chicago,

And the Northwestern University Library.

Crafton Hills College in California was designed by desert modern architect E.

Stuart Williams in 1965,

And built between 1966 and 1976.

Williams's Brutalist design contrasts with the steep terrain of the area,

And was chosen in part because it provided a fire break from the surrounding environment.

One of the most famous Brutalist buildings in the United States is Geisel Library at the University of California San Diego.

Designed by William Pereira,

And built 1969 to 1970,

It is said to occupy a fascinating nexus between Brutalism and Futurism,

But was originally intended as a modernist building in steel and glass,

Before cost considerations meant the structural elements were redesigned in concrete,

And moved to the outside of the building.

Evans,

Wool and the Third's Brutalist Klaus Memorial Hall,

A performing arts facility that opened in 1963 on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis,

Was praised for its bold and dramatic design.

The University of Minnesota's West Bank campus features the Rarick Center,

A performing arts venue by Ralph Rapson from 1971.

It has been called the best example in the Twin Cities of the style called Brutalism.

Fainer Hall at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has long been controversial for its use of Brutalism,

And has been considered an eyesore on campus.

Deemed to have a facade only a mother could love by the university itself.

The Joseph Mark Lounger Library,

The main library at the Georgetown University Library System,

Was designed by John Carl Warnick,

And opened in 1970.

Originally conceived with a traditional design similar to other buildings at Georgetown University,

The final design of the Lounger Library embraces Brutalism and was intended as a modern interpretation of the nearby Healy Hall,

A Flemish Romanesque building.

The building once received the award of merit by the American Institute of Architects in 1976 for distinguished accomplishment in library architecture.

However,

In recent years,

As public attitudes towards Brutalism have shifted,

The library has been referred to as one of the ugliest buildings in Georgetown and Washington,

D.

C.

A 2014 article in The Economist noted its unpopularity with the public,

Observing that a campaign to demolish a building will usually be directed against the brutalist one.

According to Simon Jenkins,

Few styles in history can have been met with so many pleas from its user to see it destroyed.

In 2005,

The British TV program Demolition ran a public vote to select 12 buildings that ought to be demolished,

And eight of those selected were brutalist buildings.

One argument is that this criticism exists in part because concrete facades do not age well in damp,

Cloudy maritime climates,

Such as those of northwestern Europe and New England.

In these climates,

The concrete becomes streaked with water stains,

And sometimes with moss and lichen and rust stains from the steel-reinforcing bars.

Critics of the style find it unappealing due to its cold appearance,

Projecting an atmosphere of totalitarianism,

As well as the association of the buildings with urban decay due to materials weathering poorly in certain climates,

And the surfaces being prone to vandalism by graffiti.

Despite this,

The style is appreciated by others,

And preservation efforts are taking place in the United Kingdom.

Reviews

Thank you for boring me to sleep once again Benjamin! 😻

This sent me to dreamland quickly. I know it has something to do with architecture, but not much more. Very nice!