Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Brutalist Architecture: Divide large masses into repeated units and expose circulation outside
- Type
- Set in Brutalist Architecture's manner (Cast or incise signage into the same surface as the concrete), and let International Style's lettering (Align sans serif signs to the column grid, flush with the wall.) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Brutalist Architecture's material (Leave board marks, tie holes and joints as the finish); bring in exactly one thing from International Style (Steel and concrete frame, white rendered planes, large sheets of glass.).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #eeece5, #9ca3a5, #252729.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Modern Architecture, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Brutalist Architecture Applying a rough grey surface without designing drips and water paths leaves black streaks within a few years and the building simply reads as damaged.
- International Style A white box alone misses the structure, free plan, industrial materials and social program, and ornament stripped without tuned proportion and detail reads as cheapness, leaving openings with no reason for their position.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Brutalist Architecture (Style, 1950s–1970s) and its accent from International Style (Style, 1920s–1960s). Structural cues: Raw exposed concrete; Massive volumes; Exposed structure; Repeating units. Accent cues, used sparingly: Rectangular volumes; Glass planes; No ornament; The free plan. Composition: Divide large masses into repeated units and expose circulation outside. Type and lettering: Cast or incise signage into the same surface as the concrete. Let one material quality come from the second style: Steel and concrete frame, white rendered planes, large sheets of glass.. Mood: Rebellion, Trust, Calm, Futurism. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #eeece5, #9ca3a5, #252729. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Brutalist Architecture 1950s–1970s / Style / Modern Architecture
A postwar ethic of public building that leaves béton brut exposed and hides neither structure nor services. Bound up with the ideals of the welfare state, it is now the subject of preservation campaigns.
- International Style 1920s–1960s / Style / Modern Architecture
Strips ornament and aims at a universal architectural language crossing borders: the box, the free plan, steel, concrete and glass.
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