Commie Brutalist Architecture General

bbc.com/future/story/20170605-the-psychology-behind-your-citys-design

I have a short recently published book about this, but the link to the PDF is on my desktop so sorry for now user

>classical architecture with its stark geometric forms
>pallid (if any) colours

Jesus christ Veeky Forums

here's an example of those mosaics

there was also a propensity for outright classically-influenced architecture under communist regimes (especially under Stalin)

>No. There are good reasons why the public hates this shit and neuroscience is starting to btfo modernism and its excess

How has it taken so long to BTFO this nonsense, though?

Surely anyone with two braincells to rub together would've realised that all this horrifyingly anti-human "architecture" was really only concerned with boosting the egos of the """""""""architects"""""" involved, and had little - if anything - to do with actual functionality

>a giant concrete block that looks like it has been carved out to fit accommodations is the same as a manor of marble where each stone was hand-crafted

>what kinda building u want f.am
>just fuck my shit up

It looks like a toilet paper spacer I crumple for fun

>really only concerned with boosting the egos of the """""""""architects""""""

What? no, pre-fab concrete is cheap and simple/quick to built, hence it was common in post-war housing projects in the UK and Eastern Europe, where there was a population boom (the former, without any land for US-style sprawl), urbanization and rebuilding after destruction (the latter)

in Canada and we have lots of brutalist/drab concrete public buildings. why? cause if the government blew all our tax dollars on neo-classical beaux-arts palatial ministries, most people would view that as wasteful

this is the same logic behind all-glass office blocks or wood-frame suburban housing developments.
gotta keep construction costs low if you're building on a lot of land, or on prime real estate.

>i'm explaining basic economics in a thread about communist architecture

>What? no, pre-fab concrete is cheap and simple/quick to built, hence it was common in post-war housing projects in the UK and Eastern Europe, where there was a population boom (the former, without any land for US-style sprawl), urbanization and rebuilding after destruction (the latter)

Except it was never about cost, so much as it was the appeal of the new. Architects like Le Corbusier didn't rise to prominence because they had the lowest costs per foot, they rose to prominence because those approving the designs wanted something "new" to replace the old, stodgy architecture

Looks like someone sat on it

...

...

It's funny how, when you see that pic, you can't even tell where it's from, it could be from at least 10 different countries. I live in one of those (Croatia)

Not him but cost was definitely part of it, although the architects involved would never admit it outright.

A lot of it has to do with theory; Ornamentation is disingenuous because it hides the form and structure of the building. Showing the concrete in its raw state reveals what a building 'really is' and the aging of the concrete with stains is again 'honest' bs

Architects also became concerned with the overall massing of a building rather than things on a human scale, possibly because that can easily be communicated with models. Then you have the structural gymnastics that could be done, first with modern materials the with computer aided drafting. Thus most newer expensive skyscrapers and other large expensive buildings have some sort of costly structural gimmick over detailing.

They knew it was shit, seeing how generously those commieblocks are surrounded with trees and flowering bushes usually.

I'd say it should.

I dunno why, but I always kinda liked it.

Maybe because I'm from Eastern Europe myself, but for me it makes a city look more like a city, and it's all neatly organised so people don't end up living like in most African countries.

One of these can get rid of an entire chunk of a slum.

Without it, Eastern Europe would look like Sudan without the Sand.

Besides, it's kind of worth it if you live on one of the top floors. It's almost always a beautiful view, especially at night.

Fun Fact:

I heard this was inspired by Netherlands architecture in the late 60's when they were running out of apartments for workers so they needed a better way to move and accommodate them without much hassle all in one place.

So yeah, I say make more of them!

Cost wasn't a yuge part of it, at least not here in Swedin. One big part of why is that the government disliked a "stone town", that is, a city with just 19th century architecture. They found it boring, and decided that they would rather have unpained concrete blocks.

If they had it in them they could easily give it a lick of paint, reclaiming the garbage left behind by previous regimes. Eastern Europe is analogous to South America socioeconomically yet they seem to be in a deep depression culturally.

Why are traditionalists eternally buttblasted at the slight mention of brutalism?

They consider that beauty is important in buildings and art.

More like they're incredibly close minded and can't appreciate different styles of architecture. That combined with their general hatred towards today's society and by extension anything that's "new" or "modern" makes them hate it.

That building front looks gay as fuck. The red brick parts look way better.

Also, commieblocks put function above form, which is how all design should be.

Well, imagine being a child or a woman walking past that every day, you will come to have nostalgic feelings for the place in which you live. Also the paint at the upper most level of the building is more stylish so something will come of it.

Contrast this with bleak soul crushing commie blocks. I also believe in function over form, convenience should be #1 priority, however paint does not obstruct your passage and form is a function.

I just wish someone would clean the facade of those old shits once in a while.

>Greenspace is bad when commies do it

Do you think Brutalism is aesthetically pleasing?

I'd much rather live in a commie block than in that monstrosity.

>Also, commieblocks put function above form, which is how all design should be.

Form is an aspect of function, though.

>Contrast this with bleak soul crushing commie blocks
What's soul crushing about them? They're places to eat, sleep, and shit, not works of art. They perform their intended function just fine while looking the way they do.

Concrete is great, because the no-nonsense look is pretty sweet. However, shit like Habitat 67 shows that you can fuck up pretty much anything.

See, that's the issue. You don't care about beauty. They do. And it is not that their standards are too rigid, but rather that they have some standards.

>They're places to eat, sleep, and shit, not works of art

You do know that a person's home has a deeper meaning/significance for people that aren't autistic, right?

If "a place to eat, sleep, and shit" was all that mattered commieblocks and housing projects wouldn't have had the massive, glaring social problems that led to most of them being demolished decades later

I've got standards too, just that they're rational rather than dismissive because of irrelevant reasons.

>most of them being demolished decades later
Most of them are still around, being renovated to bring them up to 21st century standards rather than getting knocked down. I happen to live in one, and it's still the way to go when you need to give a bunch of people a place to live and you don't have the time or resources to build a new city block just because some homo at the city planning department demands that the city should become more aesthetically pleasing.

if you had to work 12 hour shifts so your kids don't have to make bricks it might brighten up your day

>They're places to eat, sleep, and shit, not works of art
maybe, but does it really have to look like THIS

Aesthetic standards.

>maybe, but does it really have to look like THIS
That looks fucking awesome. Too bad more cities don't look like that.

Like I said, my standards are rational. Aesthetics is a plague upon humanity.

Looks comfy af.

>ose minded and can't appreciate different styles of architecture. That combined with their general hatred towards today's society and by extension anything that's "new" or "modern" makes them hate it.

God that looks so comfy, like some post op sci-fi game

>mfw from Skopje
>mfw Skopje was hit by an earthquake and got rebuilt using almost exclusively commie brutalist architecture
>mfw i used to hate it and wished the old neo-classical buildings were rebuilt
>mfw the last government blew hundreds of millions adding disgusting styrofoam "baroque" facades on commie blocks and disgusting monuments
>mfw the new government is going to tear down all the facades and sell the monuments
>mfw i have no face but im happy

I consider myself a traditionalist and love neo-classical architecture but the kitsch clusterfuck the old government made made me appreciate the old commie blocks so much that i voted for the fucking social democrats.

Why i quoted that i have no idea

You're right, glorious Capitalist Condominium gets rid of that gauche flora and replaces it with beautiful asphalt fields
Thank you Invisible Hand

Damn, that is beautiful. Would be perfect if they managed to line up the bushes properly, but I guess you can't have everything.