Why Is Brutalism So Controversial? | A Style Is Born w/

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  • Опубліковано 27 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 98

  • @wayfair
    @wayfair  Рік тому +32

    Brutalist spaces can feel cold but come to life with the right decor. What are your favorite ways to bring warmth and charm to a brutalist interior?

  • @chrispychicken9614
    @chrispychicken9614 Рік тому +35

    It’s calming: there’s nothing to see, so you can ignore it as you travel from space to space.
    This sort of blank space, background noise to the features of a living space are incredibly comforting to my ADD for some reason.

    • @ordinarynocturne
      @ordinarynocturne Рік тому +8

      And it's the exact opposite for me: it stresses me out. It's cold, empty, depressed, and foreboding. It gives my ADHD no stimulation and it feels like how nails on a chalkboard sounds.
      Different strokes for different folks. 🤷‍♀️

    • @hexapodc.1973
      @hexapodc.1973 11 місяців тому +2

      I disagree completely, it’s loudly blank, it’s loudly offensive, it’s loudly ugly. I also go to college at Uic, which is nearly entirely brutalist buildings. I can’t just ignore my college campus lmao

  • @missvioletnightchild2515
    @missvioletnightchild2515 Рік тому +27

    Just a quick note on Le Corbusier's building in Marseille: its nickname is "la maison du fada" in the local dialect, which means the madman's house - rather than the madhouse
    This was super interesting! I am very much a maximalist like Kaz, but I have grown to appreciate some Brutalist architecture, particularly the Barbican Centre in London - it does indeed feel pretty cosy inside!

  • @luciddreamer616
    @luciddreamer616 Рік тому +20

    I worked in a correctional facility for 17 years, and it shared many hallmarks of brutalist architecture. Lots of raw concrete, weird polygonal shapes, most of the buildings protruded out at odd angles, lots of glass in the admin buildings and elsewhere (much of it tinted, sometimes thick like hard plastic and allegedly bulletproof.)
    I hated it. Granted, I'm biased af, because I absolutely hated my job. I walked through security checkpoints and turnstiles posted up under looming chain-link fences with barbed wire coils along the top rail, and I associated this very peculiar architectural style with the stench of dry, crusty instant milk so sour it reminded me of grape drink. I see it and think of sticky cement floors, and the rank odor of mushy trash scraped out of hard trays into bus tubs so the trays could go into the dish pit. I think of the catwalk where I used to smoke, back when they let us smoke, and the way it wrapped around psych ops inmates saturated in a miasma of urine and dried shit and body odor and tragedy. Even the hallways had that disgusting elementary-school cafeteria smell.

  • @magicknight13
    @magicknight13 Рік тому +7

    This is such an amazing video! I'm loving these wayfair and Kaz Rowe collab uploads!! As an architectural theory and art history grad student, I feel like this was made for me!!! 🥺 forever grateful to my life changing modern architecture professor who introduced me to brutalism!

  • @angryhistoryguy5657
    @angryhistoryguy5657 Рік тому +20

    I appreciate this video for giving me a better understanding of why I dislike brutalism. I really enjoy the beautiful absurdity of intentionally over-the-top artifice, and brutalism is the exact opposite.

    • @angryhistoryguy5657
      @angryhistoryguy5657 Рік тому +4

      Also worth noting: raw materials are often less durable than those that are finished. A lot of decorative treatments sprang out of practical ways to make things last longer, by making them more weather-resistant or easier to keep clean and make repairs. By chucking them out altogether, brutalism is stating a preference for replacement vs longterm maintenance. I have very strong feelings about that particular issue.

  • @pearlygirl88
    @pearlygirl88 Рік тому +17

    There is nothing that will help me enjoy brutalism. To each their own, but the style depresses me.

    • @rruthlessly
      @rruthlessly Рік тому +1

      I thought that too until a friend posted a photo of La Tulipe in Geneva - a surprisingly beautiful example of brutalist architecture.

    • @pearlygirl88
      @pearlygirl88 Рік тому +1

      @@rruthlessly ok, I looked it up and you’re right. That’s the first piece of brutalist architecture I’ve ever liked. So I have found the one apparently lol. Thanks for sharing. It’s a fascinating structure.

    • @Moodboard39
      @Moodboard39 8 місяців тому

      ​@@rruthlesslypeople complain about anything ....

  • @aeolia80
    @aeolia80 Рік тому +11

    So I live in France, and these apartment buildings that look like they belong in the soviet block are extremely common here, I didn't know till after I moved here that the dude that designed the soviet apartment buildings was actually French, hahahahah. Anyways. I don't mind them ,per say, I think if they are done with certain materials not just straight concrete they can look kinda nice, the problem with most of them is that when they start to age over time they look extremely dated, more so than the Haussmann buildings in say Paris where those have taken on a certain "charm" I guess. I swear the only concrete block apartment buildings here in France that still look decent are the ones that are not made from concrete, hahahha, they're usually made from stone or other natural materials and were better made and aren't falling apart or look dirty and extremely dated.

  • @AKoooooooo
    @AKoooooooo Рік тому +22

    i’m a seattlite surrounded by brutalist structures in parks, on buildings, at random… can’t wait to dive into this video

  • @oldusernamewasbadlol
    @oldusernamewasbadlol Рік тому +4

    I've grown to like the shapes and the simplicity of brutalist buildings, but maybe part of the criticism is related to how these buildings age - some of them gather weird ominous stains or just get covered in cladding.

  • @katecritt
    @katecritt Рік тому +4

    My city (Brisbane, QLD) has a very brutalist museum and performing arts precinct along the waterfront, and I'm actually quite fond of it. Brutalism can be really cool when done right, but there's definitely also a lot of soulless collections of rectangles under the brutalist umbrella that I don't care for.

  • @Incandescentkiki
    @Incandescentkiki Рік тому +13

    I’ve always enjoyed brutalist architecture. It’s quiet and yet foreboding, I also find it works super well in worldbuilding. For example in the new Dune movie, the brutalist themes throughout the film are simple and yet say a lot about the characters and the world they live in. It’s (in my opinion) an ageless style type if done right, and can work for so many different reasons. That being said, art nouveau/ Neoclassical/gothic are all my faves which are also pretty different 😂

  • @robotpenguin17
    @robotpenguin17 Рік тому +5

    I went to school at UCSD and while it was cool to have an iconic piece of brutalist architecture as our library, it was absolutely depressing to live in a brutalist building. The concrete walls were so sad and many of us felt like it looked like a prison. That being said, we could see the ocean from our roof so it wasn’t all bad 🤷🏻‍♀️

  • @MadameReynaud
    @MadameReynaud Рік тому +5

    Have always loved the strength of this architecture and when done well, it is amazing. A neutral blank canvas that can be softened and brightened up into a comfortable home. For example Trellick Tower in London amongst other iconic 20th C ‘habitations’…

  • @anabltc
    @anabltc Рік тому +3

    There's much more to this theme and imo it's more understandable in terms of location and time (Europe vs US, especially post-ww2; different social outlooks, different ways of building). I grew up in ex-socialist country and brutalism was pretty much my natural habitat 😄 but I also think that it's not the best solution for home interior design, unless you like that museum/mausoleum feel. However, it pairs up very well with mid-century interior

  • @kazza6078
    @kazza6078 Рік тому +16

    I love Kaz Rowe! ❤

  • @Trassel242
    @Trassel242 Рік тому +3

    I personally don’t like brutalism, but I still respect its right to exist. Here in Sweden, there’s a movement called the “Architect’s uprising” that’s just some ignorant people whining about brutalism and current architecture without having any clue about anything they’re talking about. I myself adore Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movement, but I cannot and will not support sacrificing things like accessibility and safety for it. The “Architect’s Uprising” people are happy to skimp out on materials and safety and comfort, as long as they glue plastic Victorian-style ornaments on top so it still looks like their uninformed ideas of what “a good looking house” looks like.
    Ideally I’d like to live in a house built using a combination of modern and old techniques and materials, preferably in an Art Nouveau style. Or, failing that, some kind of attempt at making a house with a similar vibe to the houses found in Morrowind, an old video game with a unique visual style.

  • @bustedkeaton
    @bustedkeaton Рік тому +9

    Hell yea Kaz get that money

  • @TrevyBurgess
    @TrevyBurgess Рік тому +1

    There is a concrete factory on Highway 401, East of Toronto. I like looking at it when I pass by, and imagine what would it be like to live there.

  • @6erise645
    @6erise645 Рік тому +3

    My 2 favorite styles are art nouveau and brutalism. Yes decorating my space is a nightmare ahah.

  • @philurbaniak1811
    @philurbaniak1811 Рік тому +1

    👍👍 I can honestly say I enjoy a broad range of styles but one of my very favourite modern materials, indoors or outdoors, is woodgrain concrete for walls 😊👌

  • @Charlie-im9iv
    @Charlie-im9iv 9 місяців тому

    Good on Kaz for bringing nuance to the conversation, as they often do, and good on Wayfair for publishing the nuanced story without whitewashing it

  • @emilyonizuka4698
    @emilyonizuka4698 Місяць тому

    just thought I'd let you know: huge kaz rowe fan and am currently in library school and one of our projects is to make a subject guide (not open to public; just for profs) and mine is on interior design, so I used one of these videos as one of my online resources.

  • @jmsl_910
    @jmsl_910 Рік тому +4

    ty for pausing and leaning into the dissonance between the Artist and his Art. hard to grapple with...

  • @kazza6078
    @kazza6078 Рік тому +10

    This is how I find out I kind of like brutalism! There's a cleanliness and neatness to it that's so satisfying.

  • @XquinlanX
    @XquinlanX Рік тому +6

    I love brutalism. It’s very decisive I live in a city with some impressive brutalism and it’s all gonna be gone soon you can sense it

    • @luciddreamer616
      @luciddreamer616 Рік тому +1

      Good. Your city is better off without it. :P

    • @Moodboard39
      @Moodboard39 8 місяців тому

      ​@@luciddreamer616no azz head . Needs to stay ...get your idiotic modern Archy out of here ...

  • @thespace2983
    @thespace2983 Рік тому +7

    I actually love some brutalist. Love the Barcelona daybed and I have 2 very heavy brutalist poufs that are structured but made of a beautiful woven rattan. I’ve added linen pillows on top for my cats that really soften their look.❤

  • @naraiattila6109
    @naraiattila6109 Рік тому +4

    great vid!!!🎉🎉

  • @isabelleskiss
    @isabelleskiss Рік тому +7

    The brutal thing about brutalism is that it (unconsciously?) shows the rejection of the ideal of nature and despises the importance of beauty.
    Not to forget that many people who live in such buildings do so not because of aesthetic appeal, but because of a lack of options.
    I don't know that many architects, but the ones I know all live in old building apartments with modern furnishings...is that a coincidence?

  • @AndrewLaw87
    @AndrewLaw87 5 місяців тому

    Fun fact: the Wayfair company headquarters was once in the brutalist 177 Huntington tower

  • @vherak05
    @vherak05 Рік тому +9

    I question the sanity of anyone decorating their home in this 'stone age asylum' style lol.

  • @viarnay
    @viarnay 7 місяців тому +1

    I feel safe inside a brutalist building, I love them shape, the raw look of concrete, but the most ugliest buildings I've ever seen are brutalist

  • @cgtang
    @cgtang Рік тому +4

    I'm planning on building a studio with loft around 24 sqm and I'm going with this style. Love the rawness of it.
    Also, it's cheaper to build here in terms of materials.

  • @selalewis9189
    @selalewis9189 Місяць тому

    I love brutalism, especially in how it’s used in Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, and Bali. In those environments, they typically blend more outdoor nature and warm tropical colors along with warm natural light to help soften the cold feel of brutalism. I live in DC and the Washington Metro stations are notable for their brutalist architecture that feels cool in the hit summers.
    And this year I visited Unite d' Habitation in Marseille. It’s still a functioning building but guests are able to visit select locations.

  • @larssonk22
    @larssonk22 Рік тому

    I have not heard of the term stealth wealth. I do like the look, Blade Runner 2049 has a great scene of Niander Wallace's private dwellings, it's sterile, haunting and the specular reflection of the water washing over the warm surfaces make it beautiful all at the same time.

  • @sourryebread
    @sourryebread 5 місяців тому +2

    i really think your outlook on brutalism depends on whether you grew up in a soviet bloc (third world) country or not. A bit disappointed that that history was skipped in this video. Also a lot of people just have to live in a brutalist apartment because that’s what’s available and cheapest, and it looks nothing like those fancy pictures 🤷

  • @gaslitworldf.melissab2897
    @gaslitworldf.melissab2897 Рік тому

    Art Nouveau is also my personal favorite, but I don't actually own anything in that category.

  • @great-garden-watch
    @great-garden-watch Рік тому +1

    Brutalist buildings to me always seemed to have a threatening character. Lol

  • @katebowers8107
    @katebowers8107 Рік тому +9

    Seriously, if you live anywhere it rains regularly, unfinished concrete is just the worst.

    • @FAB13
      @FAB13 Рік тому +4

      That's not true. Seattle has plenty of unfinished concrete, and it looks beautiful in the rain.

    • @Moodboard39
      @Moodboard39 8 місяців тому +1

      Especially in the city ....ugh can't stand it

  • @teddieprox2307
    @teddieprox2307 Рік тому +2

    is this kaz's second channel ?

    • @glochevalier
      @glochevalier Рік тому +7

      No. They're hosting the second season of a series.

  • @katebowers8107
    @katebowers8107 Рік тому +7

    Brutalist architecture: I’m not sheltering you from the elements, I’m making you live inside a dark cloud made of sharp corners covered in rough sandpaper.

    • @Bionickpunk
      @Bionickpunk Рік тому +2

      Nice attempt at a joke, but this ain't true.

  • @duncandistortion
    @duncandistortion 9 місяців тому

    Love it.

  • @alexjames7144
    @alexjames7144 Рік тому +4

    Feels a bit empty without a discussion of how environmentally awful brutalism is and the popularity of eco brutalism that's giving people a false impression

    • @callasky
      @callasky 6 місяців тому

      You meant you prefer cutting trees and cause deforestation?
      Grow up. All buildings are environmentally bad in one way or another. Unless you want to build teepees that is made from sticks and grass.

  • @gh.stb12rd
    @gh.stb12rd Рік тому +4

    i love brutalism so much. After the worship of ancient whiteness plaguing the definition of beauty (victorian, roman, greek, baroque, gothic), display of oppulence of antique furniture adquired by the forefathers of opression, brutalism looks to me as a mallet to the head of hyerarchy. Its just a fucking block of concrete. We can all live together in it. Your house is mine. My house is yours. We can make of it what we have in our hands and be the people we are now, we can be equal and make our identity of our own making. I love altered brutalism. I wish someday to have a block of concrete to paint the pictures of what i truly find beauty in all across the raw walls of it.

    • @Moodboard39
      @Moodboard39 8 місяців тому

      People are fools . And have no idea what people can come with it when they see different architecture....they wanna see some fancy, rainbow type shit

    • @Moodboard39
      @Moodboard39 8 місяців тому

      Just started to see it. Never heard of this architecture before ....

    • @katiacritten9975
      @katiacritten9975 3 місяці тому

      Why does equality and smashing hierarchy have to be hideous or cold and lifeless?

  • @nichill7474
    @nichill7474 Рік тому

    I like Tom Kundig’s interpretation of brutalism with incorporation of unique mechanical and steel industrial elements. I have no idea what i just said but i know what i meant. Look at his stuff and you may see what i mean.

  • @esotericexplorersmartinez493
    @esotericexplorersmartinez493 7 місяців тому

    i can see the beauty especially if you incorporate a lot of green from plants
    but it’s just not for me

  • @Sammymc
    @Sammymc Рік тому

    Nice!

  • @SS-wi4tm
    @SS-wi4tm Рік тому +3

    Bring it back so millennials can have cheaper houses

  • @BobbyBermuda1986
    @BobbyBermuda1986 Рік тому +1

    Is art moderne the same thing as streamline moderne?

  • @kattsforeveryone
    @kattsforeveryone Рік тому +2

    It concrete and steel looks like Russia apartments block

  • @MarsM13
    @MarsM13 Рік тому

    I like mixing Brutalism with Southwestern.

  • @bricksloth6920
    @bricksloth6920 Рік тому +3

    I already liked brutalism, but I'm down for a history lecture. [gets popcorn]

  • @clowchan
    @clowchan Рік тому +4

    Yeah, Brutalism is still so boring and lifeless. Everything screams prison about it

  • @patriciafuchs5970
    @patriciafuchs5970 Рік тому

    Interesting

  • @DiamondAbner-gf6hk
    @DiamondAbner-gf6hk Рік тому

    Daylin has the most the best?

  • @manlet_king
    @manlet_king 11 місяців тому +1

    As someone from Eastern Europe I cannot stress enough how much I despise brutalism and commie blocks. It saps out all the joy from your surroundings and enforces melancholy and depression. It is also a grim reminder of post commie consequences as they are pretty much ''town tumors'' scattered everywhere and almost impossible to remove.

    • @Moodboard39
      @Moodboard39 8 місяців тому

      😂😂😂 damn weather in Europe ...all that cloudy , raining and shit dude ....

    • @manlet_king
      @manlet_king 8 місяців тому

      @@Moodboard39 Nah, you are thinking of England. In the Balkans the weather is quite nice and varied. But the mere site of commie blocks can ruin even the sunniest of days.
      Its like they amplify the gloomy weather and dampen the good weather.

  • @JRCT3E
    @JRCT3E Рік тому +1

    living in a brutalist interior sounds like torture to me. nothing but naked concrete walls and rigid materials echoing every single goddamn noise you and your neighbours make into your home.
    brutalism is torture

    • @Moodboard39
      @Moodboard39 8 місяців тому

      😂😂😂u serious

    • @Moodboard39
      @Moodboard39 8 місяців тому

      Noise are unavoidable butt head

  • @platoscavealum902
    @platoscavealum902 9 місяців тому

    👍

  • @OgelAnderson
    @OgelAnderson 4 місяці тому

    Does it matter who he was? He created beautifull things, so who cares what is his head

  • @crystalwynn3910
    @crystalwynn3910 3 місяці тому

    😂 but did you say. .. RECTAL linear? 😂

  • @VictorAguirre-h7w
    @VictorAguirre-h7w Рік тому

    I guess that brutalism is kinda scrunchy lol

  • @harenterberge2632
    @harenterberge2632 8 місяців тому

    I studied and worked in brutalist buildings. The featureless greyness depressed me every day. Humans need colour, structure and variation. Brutalist buildings are a form of torture.