When people think of Brutalist architecture, they often think of the residential complexes common in many ex-soviet countries. Brutalism, however, emerged in Britain in the 1950s during the process of reconstruction after world-war II. It remained popular, especially for public buildings and social housing, until the 1970s, when it became increasingly associated with totalitarianism. In this article, we explore some of London’s most distinctive Brutalist masterpieces.

 

What makes a building Brutalist? Architectural styles aren’t the kind of things one can define precisely. The notion of a style is more like a shared family resemblance between the examples of the style.

 

One feature that many Brutalist buildings share is their angularity. Brutalist buildings don’t ebb and flow, their edges aren’t softened. In his essay ‘The New Brutalism’, originally published in Architectural Review in 1955, Reyner Banham identifies a second common characteristic: the use of large structural elements as design features. Instead of diverting attention away from the functional inner-bones of the building, they are made to stand out.

 

A third thing that is characteristic of Brutalist buildings is their use of materials. In a break from the earlier Bauhaus movement, materials aren’t hidden, they are showcased. This is best illustrated by the use of exposed, unpainted concrete; although other materials such as brick or steel are also common. Materials are shown for what they are, concrete is shown as concrete-y, steel is steely. In Reyner Banham’s words:

 

 

 

Guy's Hospital Tower Wing in 2010

Known today as Guy's Hospital Tower Wing, Guy's Tower (as it was) when built, was the tallest hospital building in the world, standing at 148.65 metres (487.7 ft) with 34 floors. The tower was overtaken as the world's tallest healthcare-related building by The Belaire in New York City in 1988. As of writing, the Tower Wing, which remains one of the tallest buildings in London, is the world's fifth-tallest hospital building.

The tower was built in 1974 and designed by Watkins Gray. The Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, which is dedicated to improving outcomes of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury, was opened by the Princess Royal in December 2004.

Today the building looms over the platforms of London Bridge station seeing in thousands of commuters on their daily travels.

 

 

Completed in 1976 after a 13 year wait, the National Theatre occupies a prime spot on the south bank of the Thames. Its three horizontal terraces are constructed out of concrete, and jut out imposingly over the plaza below. Inside, however, these features are softened by the fact the concrete was set in raw timber, giving the building an organic element, and the use of thick deep purple carpets and dark wood benches.

 

The imposing architecture of the Theatre is not universally liked. It frequently appears in lists of both London’s most hated and most liked buildings. Most notoriously, in 1988 now King Charles the III described it as “a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London without anyone objecting.”

 

The theater is still in use, staging a variety of productions including both Shakespeare and new plays by contemporary play-writes. The foyers of the building are open and accessible to the public, and were once described as ‘the nation’s living room’. They currently host exhibitions, a café and bar, and bookshop. As well as theater-goers, the building also attracts skateboarders due to the covered areas outside the building and the proximity to the south bank skate-park.

 

 

Eros House is a Brutalist building in Catford, Lewisham. It was designed by renowned Brutalist architect Owen Luder and built 1960-63. The building replaced the old Eros Theater in Catford and was part of a larger urban renewal project that also included a shopping center designed Luder and Rodney Gordon. The building has characteristics that are typical of Luder's brutalist architecture, including the freestanding stair tower. In 1963 the building had been awarded a RIBA and in 1964 it won a Civic Trust Award for architecture. It was recommended for listed status in 2000 but sadly turned down.

Originally built as commercial offices, the building was later converted to residential use. The building is privately owned by Quintana Global and now contains 63 apartments with commercial units on the ground floor. The building is iconic on the Lewisham skyline, standing as it does a rare brutalist monument juxtaposed against the largely low-rise, Victorian buildings in Catford town centre.

 

 

Dawson’s Heights, East Dulwich, is built on top of a hill, offering panoramic views of central London in the distance. Designed by Kate Macintosh, Dawson’s Heights was the young architect’s first commission. Dawson Heights was built at a time of massive council-backed building projects aimed at clearing slums and providing decent and comfortable homes for working-class people. Although originally council owned, many of the flats are now privately owned.

 

The development includes almost 300 flats, divided into two staggered blocks, both of which overlook a shared garden. The result has an Escher-like quality. Macintosh objected to the uniform, monotonous blocks that had started to be built across the UK, choosing instead to create a multidimensional building inspired by Edinburgh Castle. Each of the flats also has a private balcony, providing fresh air, privacy and fantastic views to the residents. Macintosh managed to justify the extra cost of providing balconies by making them serve a twin-function as fire-escapes. By removing a glass panel, residents can move across onto neighbor’s balconies to distance themselves from the fire.

 

Dawson’ heights doesn’t have the trademark Brutalist use of concrete, being made instead out of brown bricks. It does, however, have many of the other characteristics of brutalist architecture: remaining faithful to the material it is built from, and the use of bold angular forms.