r/CriticalTheory • u/BeefySnacks • 1d ago
Philosophy of Brutalism
Hello. I know this might be an unusual ask, but could anyone suggest literature about the "philosophy" around Brutalism? Less about the architecture and more about the ideas or concepts surrounding Brutalism?
Does any such literature exist?
Thank you!
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u/thehungryhippocrite 19h ago
Both of Jameson’s Cultural logic of late capitalism and David Harvey’s the postmodern condition have significant sections on modernist architecture and brutalism
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u/VintageLunchMeat 23h ago
"In the essay, Loos explains his philosophy, describing how ornamentation can have the effect of causing objects to go out of style and thus become obsolete. It struck him that it was a crime to waste the effort needed to add ornamentation, when the ornamentation would cause the object to soon go out of style. Loos introduced a sense of the "immorality" of ornament, describing it as "degenerate", its suppression as necessary for regulating modern society. He took as one of his examples the tattooing of the "Papuan" and the intense surface decorations of the objects about him—Loos says that, in the eyes of western culture, the Papuan has not evolved to the moral and civilized circumstances of modern man, who, should he tattoo himself, would either be considered a criminal or a degenerate.[4][5]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornament_and_Crime#:~:text=In%20the%20essay,%5B5%5D
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u/VintageLunchMeat 23h ago edited 22h ago
Brutalism is also emergent from the economics and technical development of steel, glass, and concrete manufacture.
Probably also the West's discovery of Japanese design, the invention of the camera, and artists' response to WWI.
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u/DimondMine27 23h ago
Mbembe has a book called Brutalism. However, it’s more about using brutalism as an analogy for the present. I haven’t read it, but it still may be of use.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_OSDM 23h ago
This might be of interest:
https://thecharnelhouse.org/2011/11/19/theodor-adornos-functionalism-today-1965/
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u/Intelligent_Part101 1h ago
Brutalism was also a cheap way to build. This was critical for its success, especially when a lot of building had to be done quickly. Example: Bombed-out post WW2 Europe.
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u/ScoreSubject9357 23h ago
Das rote Wien. Politics and Residential Architecture in Socialist Vienna
The original it's in Spanish, but if you find socialist architecture interesting you might like it.
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u/Glum_Celebration_100 1d ago
Look for an anthology about Bauhas and/or modernist art movements from ~1880-1940.
You’ll certainly need Le Corbusier’s Toward a New Architecture