I am a big fan of quality brutalism, but I agree a lot that the style makes half-baked architecture look even worse.
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.
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
Yes, Dallas City Hall is ominous for sure.
Nice choices! The SF Hyatt is crazy cool on the inside. A couple I enjoy:
Marcel Breuer - St Francis de Sales Church, MI
Image source
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.
Good idea, but it was a good discussion.
By posting a picture of a Brutalist building?! ![]()
Lol that the thread is “about” though, I know you’re being sarcastic though. ![]()
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
Isn’t Metlife like 3 million sqft? Imagine if it was the same height as the Twins. The size is crazy
It would look very DOMINATING along park avenue considering the big width ![]()
It used to look so big.
It’s still good sized but diminished these days.






















