In a bid to rebuild swiftly in the aftermath of the Second World War, Brutalist architecture emerged as a new En vogue-ism in the 50s and 60s. Not particularly defined by a lineage tying it to other styles of architecture, Brutalism would come to be characterised by its honest use of materials, as architectural critic Reyner Banham highlighted in his essay expounding on the emerging style, A New Brutalism. Commonly believed to be derived from the French phrase béton brut coined by Le Corbusier, meaning ‘raw concrete’, Brutalist architecture and its “bloody-mindedness” had many critics divided on its virtues. On the one hand, it had enthusiasts for its “ruthless adherence” to the honesty in structure and material—as Banham suggests—that “only the pen of Ibsen could do justice”; and on the other, detractors who questioned the architecture’s social worth. Undeniably, Brutalism’s close association with the English word ‘brutal’ added to the negative connotations attached to the designs.

The polemic style would result in structures with hulking forms and sculptural compositions hewn from what was easily among the most common materials in Europe at the time, concrete. As most of the structures built during this time completed 70+ years off late in various degrees of repair and disrepair, contemporary architecture practices and institutions are not only re-evaluating the structures’ broader impact on architecture and architectural discourse but also evolving the ethical sensibilities of Brutalism into a language of their own.

Speaking for most of the editorial team and their love for the concrete behemoths conceived during Brutalism’s reign, STIR has continued to feature projects and showcases that look at evolving forms of honesty in materiality and reveal otherwise unexplored tangents in Brutalist history. At the close of the year, we now reflect on some of these projects that add new layers of meaning to what is widely considered a contentious style.

1. 'Capital Brutalism' at the National Building Museum, Washington DC, United States

On view at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, from June 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025, Capital Brutalism surveys Brutalist architecture in the United States’ capital built primarily during the Cold War period. With a focus on seven significant buildings and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Metro system in the city, the architectural exhibition presents archival material, architectural drawings and construction photos that contextualise how the “Brutalist phenomenon” took shape during a particularly fraught period for the nation. Examining the past, present and future of concrete structures, the exhibition also invites speculative designs by leading architecture firms, including Brooks+Scarpa, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Gensler, BLDUS along with students from the School of Architecture at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) who envision future possibilities for the five buildings presented.

The exhibition brings up the polarising public discourse on Brutalism, illustrating both appreciation and criticism of the style with photography by Ty Cole capturing the current state of the buildings. Beyond controversies over the style (with some critics referring to DC's Brutalist buildings as “modern dinosaurs” or “gun turrets”), the exhibition also reveals the deeper social impacts of Brutalism and how these developments often displaced marginalised communities and reinforced racial segregation.

2. 'Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States

The sumptuous—bordering on Daedalian—architectural drawings by Paul Rudolph populate a retrospective of the modernist architect’s work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art alongside models, furniture, material samples and photographs. Showcasing over 80 works—completed and speculative—by the American architect, the exhibition neatly categorises the building typologies Rudolph’s work encompasses, including housing, civic projects, megastructures, interiors and his commissions in Asia. In the exhibition’s press release, the curator Abraham Thomas notes, “Rudolph’s intricate, visionary drawings and dramatic completed buildings represent a singular voice within the crowded, variable terrain of architectural late Modernism; one that will continue to prove both spellbinding and confounding for many years to come.”

The exhibition, on view from September 30, 2024 – March 16, 2025, paints the portrait of a figure disillusioned with the ideologies of modern architecture, moving towards a signature Brutalist idiom, with monumental and expressive forms taking precedence over earlier works. These would also solidify his status as a key figure in American brutalism and earn him the moniker "mastermind with building blocks." The drawings, alongside the models, show the reverie of form and materiality that Brutalism would come to embrace while bringing to light a designer hitherto unknown to the larger masses, adding to the vocabulary of the style in America.

3. BRUJ Cabinet de Curiosités by Studio Jean Verville, Canada

Described as a ‘habitable creative laboratory’, Canadian architect Jean Verville transforms a rather spartan apartment in Quebec into a surreal space, in the vein of a movie set, housing literal cabinets of surprising objects that hold personal significance to Verville. Mirroring the brutalism of Quebec, the raw materiality of the residential interiors is balanced by instances of whimsy, with elements in varied colours and a network of exposed piping heightening the feeling of industrial space.

Set within a Marcel Bilodeau-designed tall, residential concrete monolith from the 1970s, the interior design evokes wonder and curiosity through these gestures. A clever interplay of surfaces that layers views of the city onto the cold grey concrete subvert the bareness of the house. By playing on the rawness of Brutalism in a compact apartment design, Verville reimagines how its sterility could also become a foil for play.

4. Indian studio Workers of Art's interpretation of 'tropical brutalism', India

Exploring a strain of brutalism better suited to the tropics, Indian architects Workers of Art (WoA) defuse colour and whimsy into their projects. In Gardens in the Sky, an apartment in Kerala, WoA channels an aesthetic that is earthy and aged. Their interpretation of ‘tropical brutalism’ is showcased by the generous sprinkling of greenery throughout the residential interiors and the striking red staircase, both of which play off the subdued materiality of the private residence. The residential design becomes a contemporary take on a style laden with meaning while staying true to its tenets of honest materiality.

Similarly, another project by the studio injects vibrancy into an otherwise monotonous space. In their design for a fabric store christened The Ribbon, the old and the new are immersed in a constant tête-à-tête. A continuous red steel rod is suspended from the ceiling, acting in parts as a rod to hang things on while guiding visitors through the space. As the studio elaborates on its approach to design, “Our vision is to craft environments, regardless of their scale, that are not only functional but also transformative, allowing users to encounter, engage and immerse themselves in spaces in ways they may have never imagined.”

5. Brutalist Plants, curated by Olivia Broome

The style, or to be a bit pedantic, aesthetic of eco-brutalism, subverts the general disdain for Brutalism’s overuse of concrete, juxtaposing the grey with the green. ‘The Image’ (a concept Banham evokes in his rationalisation of the style) of eco-brutalist architecture—raw, exposed facades covered in greenery—was perhaps fostered by the apocalyptic visions of science fiction and sustained by the very real anxieties of the pandemic necessitating a return to nature. These sentimentalities and the obsession with images that layer the green and grey are explored in a photo book published by Hoxton Mini Press, Brutalist Plants, by Olivia Broome.

The book compiles shots of housing, institutional buildings, hotels, urban infrastructure, sculptures and abandoned structures, becoming a visual archive for the aesthetic. It features iconic structures such as the Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate in the UK, institutional buildings such as the famed Mill Owners’ Association Building in India, alongside other structures including memorial sculptures like the Monument to the Revolution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to rethink the beauty of the architectural forms conceived during fraught times.

6. Sacred Modernity: The Holy Embrace of Modernist Architecture by Jamie McGregor Smith

The genesis of photographer Jamie McGregor Smith’s project and subsequent book, Sacred Modernity: The Holy Embrace of Modernist Architecture, traces back to Smith’s encounter with the Wotruba Catholic Church in Leising, Vienna. Confronted with the sculptural, progressive church architecture consisting of 152 irregular concrete blocks led to an inquiry into how a conservative institution like the church could have commissioned this design “at once beautiful yet brutal”. This development of modernist structures holding the sacrosanct spaces of Catholic tradition was propelled by the impulses of the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s in light of general post-war upheaval across Europe.

As with most aesthetic movements associated with the papacy, the turn towards the bold forms championed by modernism was a means to assert legitimacy and the relevance of the church to a rapidly modernising world, mirroring the emergence of Baroque architecture in the late 16th century. It would also mean that the puritanical institution would begin to willingly work with many non-believing, younger-generation architects. Smith’s 200+ page book traces the evolution of a distinct design language for these houses of worship through photography.

STIRred 2024 wraps up the year with curated compilations of our expansive art, architecture and design coverage at STIR this year. Did your favourites make the list? Tell us in the comments!