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
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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.
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.