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ghm2199 | on: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)
If you want to get a feel of what brutalist architecture is like up close, go to the Barbican in london if you can.

Its quite surreal. Very much in-your-face concrete exposure. Yet, to walk and experience it with your eyes is a study of contrasts: a giant, comparitively modern, greenhouse, has a glass roof open to the sky and yet many floors have no light or windows at all. And in the outdoor spaces, like the fountain/canal running through the complex the concrete will sort of be in the background and lets you focus on everything else: the water, the swans and the people around.

Juxtapose that to low hanging exposed concrete roofs and walls in closed passages could make one feel constrained/claustrophobic/yearning for light.

rors | parent
The Barbican is not a typical brutalist construction. The term brutalist refers to béton brut, which means raw concrete. I.e. you can see the shape of the wooden slats used as a cast. The concrete in the Barbican was finished by drilling to create a dappled pattern, which obliterated the shape of the slats.

There are also lots of post modern elements. For example, the columns of the girl’s school have pyramids at the top to resemble pencils.

The south bank has more buildings that are a purer expression of brutalism.

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benjijay | root | parent | next
If you find yourself in West London, also check out Brunel University, all of the older buildings are pure brutalism
Nursie | root | parent | next
The best thing about the South Bank is that you can look over the river and admire the North Bank.
stavros | root | parent
Sure, but as someone who likes the aesthetic, the Barbican hits all the right spots for me.