NEW YORK | Met Life Building (200 Park Ave.) | 808 FT | 59 FLOORS

I am a big fan of quality brutalism, but I agree a lot that the style makes half-baked architecture look even worse.

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I think Boston City Hall is better. It’s a 2 out of 10 instead of a 1 out of 10.

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I don’t want to derail this into just a thread on brutalism (okay, maybe part of me does) but here are some of my favorites:


Geisel Library, UC San Diego


Embarcadero Center Towers + Embarcadero Hyatt, San Francisco


Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY

The style is often unpleasant or oppressive but can be iconic when executed properly. If one had the opportunity to make a major addition to Met Life, one would have to ensure it fell into the latter category.

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Boston for sure, but it lacks the monumentality of Dallas

I always loved Empire State Plaza, it’s like a tidier, more sophisticated, better executed Brasilia

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Yes, Dallas City Hall is ominous for sure.

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Nice choices! The SF Hyatt is crazy cool on the inside. A couple I enjoy:

Marcel Breuer - St Francis de Sales Church, MI


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Paul Rudolph - Boston Government Service Center Staircase


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Kevin Roche - Indianapolis Pyramids


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Love the pyramids. They had a lot of problems with leaking.

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Tryna steer this thread back

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Good idea, but it was a good discussion.

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By posting a picture of a Brutalist building?! :wink:

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Lol that the thread is “about” though, I know you’re being sarcastic though. :sweat_smile:

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Taken last Saturday

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Taken on 6/1/23

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Per: Great Game Changers: How the MetLife Building Redefined Midtown Architecture | 6sqft


Per:The elite students who remade the world under Walter Gropius | architecture | Agenda | Phaidon

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Isn’t Metlife like 3 million sqft? Imagine if it was the same height as the Twins. The size is crazy

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It would look very DOMINATING along park avenue considering the big width :sunglasses:

It used to look so big.

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It’s still good sized but diminished these days.

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