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Architecture vocabulary · Styles, History and Conservation

Brutalism

Meaning in architecture, with examples

/ˈbruːtəlɪzəm/nounCommon term

In architecture, Brutalism means: A style from the 1950s to the 1970s known for heavy, bold forms and raw, exposed concrete, often used for housing, universities and public buildings.

In Turkish: brütalizm

How it is used

Widely discussed today, often in debates about demolition versus conservation. Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation in Marseille was an early influence. The adjective is brutalist: a brutalist tower, a brutalist housing estate.

Example sentences

  1. The campus is a fine example of 1960s Brutalism, with board-marked concrete everywhere.

  2. Many people who once disliked Brutalism now campaign to protect these buildings.

Common collocations

  • brutalist architecture
  • 1960s Brutalism
  • exposed concrete
  • board-marked concrete
  • ModernismThe early to mid-20th-century movement that rejected historical decoration and favoured function, simple forms, open plans and new materials like steel, glass and concrete.
  • reinforced concreteConcrete with steel bars or mesh cast inside it; the concrete resists compression and the steel resists tension, which makes strong beams, slabs and columns possible.
  • restorationWork that repairs a historic building and returns it to an earlier condition, based on careful research into its original form, materials and techniques.
  • adaptive reuseGiving an old building a new use, such as turning a factory into a museum or offices, while keeping much of its original structure and character.

More terms: Styles, History and Conservation

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