My guest is Kate Wagner (@mcmansionhell), architecture critic at The New Republic and proprietor of the McMansion Hell blog. Like me, Kate grew up in the South, and like me, she is a defender of brutalist architecture. Unlike me, Kate really knows what she's talking about.
Brutalism is a style that grew out of 20th-century modernism, and it usually features hulking geometric forms and a lot of exposed, unfinished concrete. The British architects Alison and Peter Smithson coined the term, not to evoke brutality, but as a play on the French béton brut, meaning raw concrete.
Anyway some people love brutalism, a lot of people hate it, and we're going to talk about it this week, of all weeks in world history. I hope you stick around even if that doesn't tickle your fancy. Kate is a brilliant thinker, and I've enjoyed her work for years.
As we’ll discuss some in the episode, I’m working on a book about the history of brutalist architecture in the American South. I recently received funding from the Lowcountry Quarterly Arts Grant Program to pursue the project. Stay tuned for updates!
Show notes are below.
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“This Brutal World: Public opinion has softened its views on Brutalism. That isn’t enough to stay the wrecking ball.” (The Architect’s Newspaper)
“Duncing About Architecture: The ignorance and racism behind the right-wing push for ‘classical’ federal buildings” (The New Republic)
“Underground, Part 1” (McMansion Hell)
Celebration, Florida (Wikipedia)
“The Legacy of Sea Ranch, a Utopian Community in Northern California” (Dwell)
Gruen transfer (Wikipedia)
Burroughs Wellcome Company Headquarters (Paul Rudolph, Durham, N.C., 1972)
Pinecrest High School (Southern Pines, N.C., 1969)
Moore County Superior Court (Carthage, N.C.)
Pruitt-Igoe (Minoru Yamasaki, St. Louis, Missouri, 1956)
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Episode 18: Raw concrete (feat. Kate Wagner)