Subtle Brutality, Brutal Subtlety

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I've mentioned before how, as a Brummie growing up in the sixties and seventies, I came to grow fond of Brutalist and functionalist architecture in most of its forms - the now listed New Street Station signal box is still moot as far as I'm concerned, but I think that is more a question of location and context rather architectural quality, and as it and I have aged together, I'm more inclined to look at it in a more favourable light these days. I was inordinately fond of the [old] New Library which sadly met its demise a few years ago to be replaced by what strikes me as a slightly fussy building, at least from the exterior. Having said that, I really loved the Victorian library that the [old] New Library replaced: it was truly the absolute exemplar of "library-ness", and everything a card catalogue-loving geek such as myself ever wanted, with its multiple levels of shelves interconnected by cast iron walkways, accessed by beautiful, ornate cast iron spiral staircases; its polished herringbone parquet flooring and subdued lighting. Wonderful.

Anyway, I was just thinking that there is a building - one that I've yet to visit, but has been on my list of to-do's for a very long time - that somehow encapsulates both of those two aesthetic worlds: both the brutalist and the decorative: Le Corbusier's Chapel - Notre-Dame Du Haut, at Ronchamp, France. This is a building I've wanted to see first hand since I was a young teenager, and indeed I passed relatively close by the thing back in the early eighties whilst on holiday with friends, but time was not on our side and so the opportunity passed me by. It's still on my list, though: the combination of brute bulk concrete and the subtlety of its natural internal lighting; its organic roof line and asymmetry of form are as compelling today as they were when this extraordinary building was placed in its landscape. It strikes me as the perfect architectural embodiment of Yin and Yang, a building of perfect internal spiritual and temporal balance, not of this world but fully grounded in it: brutalist but sensitive in equal measure...

Comments

  1. Anonymous31 March 2026 at 12:52

    Stunning building but not sure I am fully into the 'traditional' brutalism. The old 'new' library certainly made a statement but really didn't work for me (I do however agree about the exterior of the new 'new' library although the interior is much better and the roof terraces are a nice touch. I actually prefer the Rep building which still looks good after all these years). There are a couple of buildings that came to mind whilst considering your piece; one a former petrol station on the A1 and the other another church - I've emailed pictures to you so if you don't see them check your spam folder.
    ATB. Steve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sideways31 March 2026 at 17:10

      Cheers, Steve trust all OK - the Starbucks is definitely singular! The other pic got broken in transmission unfortunately...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1 April 2026 at 18:48

      Other picture was the Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik. I'll re-send. Cheers

      Delete

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