My brother works in that building for Foster Wheeler. Judging by their layoffs over the last few years they’ll be rattling round in there with a floor for each of them.

Not anymore he doesn’t, FW doesn’t exist.

We were “bought” by AMEC who funded the whole thing on debt because they didn’t actually have any money to buy anyone (unlike FW who had loads of cash reserves). They then spectacularly mismanaged the merger, lumping that office which the UKCS assets, despite that office doing zilch upstream of offshore work, most of it’s work was downstream and in the middle east. So not only did we have no work (or experience) in our new region, old clients refused to work with other offices that had been put into their region as they were effectively unknown. So what was FW was now lumbered with having to offset the AMEC losses in the oil price downturn and struggling itself.

So after making everyone (and me) redundant and turning the site into a ghost town they eventually succumbed to the market and got brought up by Wood, and apparently getting back on track.

[/rant]

True, but but I still think of it as Foster Wheeler. I do t speak to him that much. I preferred it when they were based by the station.

 I preferred it when they were based by the station.

Ahh, the curse of FW, Thames Tower, Abbey Gardens and Aldwych house were all empty after they left until they were re-developed. PRobably because they were the only company prepared to rent the crappy “almost but not quite bad enough condition to justify renovation” blocks!

A google tells me that Brutalism doesn’t even have to involved concrete but generally does.

Since “brutalism” is derived from “beton brut”, i.e. raw concrete, it’s hard to see how that can be true !

Since “brutalism” is derived from “beton brut”, i.e. raw concrete, it’s hard to see how that can be true !

The entomology of a word and what people use it for don’t always match up

We still call meteorites ‘meteorites’ even thought we now know they’re not a result of the weather.

Any of the ‘-ists’ and ‘isms’ are just nicknames really – just a name that someone coins to describe a group of similarly influenced practioners that sticks – its not rigorous scientific taxonomy

DrJ

Member
A google tells me that Brutalism doesn’t even have to involved concrete but generally does.

Since “brutalism” is derived from “beton brut”, i.e. raw concrete, it’s hard to see how that can be true !

Curious, I always assumed it was from the word ‘brutal’ – as in ‘the stairwell in this concrete carbuncle smells a bit brutal’

Possibly, but if people start using alternative meanings for words it makes it impossible to have a sensible discussion about anything.

Brutalism isn’t derived from beton brut, it comes from brut which means raw.

<div class=”bbp-reply-author”>DrJ
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Since “brutalism” is derived from “beton brut”, i.e. raw concrete, it’s hard to see how that can be true !

It isn’t quite. Villa Goth which is more or less where the term started has beton brut features but is mostly brick. And when Banham made it popular he was referring to that (probably), and to le corbusier’s beton brut, and also basically making a shit-stirring pun about brutality and a not-very-well-founded political statement on isms.

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I stand corrected – everyday something to learn round here 🙂

how about the Coventry elephant…

Brutalist architecture had really grown on me the last few years. Some of these are great!

Thanks to this thread and a bit of research on brutalism I discovered the architect Ernö Goldfinger.

You have to love anyone whose Wiki entry includes the phrase

Goldfinger was known as a humourless man given to notorious rages. He sometimes fired his assistants if they were inappropriately jocular.

Even better

A discussion about Ernő with Ursula, Goldfinger’s cousin, on a golf course prompted Ian Fleming to name the James Bond adversary and villain Auric Goldfinger after Ernő (Fleming had previously been among the objectors to the pre-war demolition of the cottages in Hampstead that were removed to make way for Goldfinger’s house at 2 Willow Road). Goldfinger consulted his lawyers when <i>Goldfinger</i> was published in 1959, which prompted Fleming to threaten to rename the character ‘Goldprick’, but eventually decided not to sue; Fleming’s publishers agreed to pay his costs and gave him six free copies of the book.<sup id=”cite_ref-5″ class=”reference”>[5]</sup><sup id=”cite_ref-6″ class=”reference”>[6]</sup>

You’ll probably like these.

https://strangeabandonedplaces.com/tag/russia/

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/g2710/amazing-photos-of-abandoned-soviet-infrastructure/

Heroes of Belarus: Soviet Monuments in the Former BSSR

This and the previous post both in the Scottish Borders

Oh, and I spent a couple of years in Havana a while back. Lived in a high rise on the Malecon and thes buildings were neighbours.

Climbing All Over the Massive Modernist Architecture of Cuba

Fascinating to see some Soviet brutalist architecture in Tallinn in the summer.

I visited here on a morning run. As featured on Alan Walker video.

https://www.jensassmann.com/linnahall/

“Achmelvich Castle” is quite a cute, tiny, brutalist bothy/foilly in Assynt. In 1955 an architect travelled up from Norwich, spent 6 solid months building it, spent one weekend in it, then left and never returned

That is frankly amazing.

Darn. Now I want to start an architecture thread but know I’ll start with the cliche. It is a cliche because it is so great.

went to uni here. still going strong.

Something from Sydney…

The old Pimlico school. A building so poorly designed pupils froze in winter and cooked in summer. A bit of a brutalist classic, nonetheless.

Cubitt would have been spinning in his grave as they built it. Now gone, thankfully.

Utopia!!

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-37826783

Sheffield brutalist weekend starts today, probably a bit late for some of the ticketed events but there might be some free stuff about. I’ll be doing the brutal bike ride this eve .

the book has a sequel 😀

LOL, I just found it! Hmm might save that for my brother’s birthday instead..

Ok. Not quite on the same theme. But if you really like someone buy them ‘Carlo scarpa and Castlevecchio revisited’ by Richard Murphy 🙂

i really like ‘me’ so bought it for myself