Why You Hate Contemporary Architecture
Postedabout 2 months agoActiveabout 2 months ago
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The article explores reasons behind the public's negative perception of contemporary architecture, examining the cultural and societal factors that contribute to this disdain.
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Nov 15, 2025 at 3:18 AM EST
about 2 months ago
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On brutalist buildings, I've seen horrors in the Barakaldo town/small city in Spain whose literally looked like a badly arranged Tetris match field... (literally)...
You can see them at Street View.
On this https://www.currentaffairs.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Med...
I remember seeing street lamps like these in my neighbourhood and having some street light stand/boulder for a big one giving light to a whole tiny plaza (round shaped) and looking more human than the current rectangular ramps and with concrete everywhere, albeit it makes the whole park much accesible for disabled people.
Still, the most charming environments are, exactly, the uber-known 'plaza-nuevas' (New Squares) in Spain dating back to centuries and being found in every old town on every major city in Spain there. I find them a polar opposite to the design for schools, which are almost shaped like prisons with concrete, raw bricks and fences...
At least as I grew in the Basque Country in a mountainous town, you could spot nice vistas from a 2nd story by just looking at the window, but the poor folks in Madrid would feel a bit claustrophobic with concrete plazas everywhere and a city moderly arranged to stay inside the bars and not to be roaming around. That's why design matters a lot.
Brutalist architectures should be for temporary places, such as stations, sidewalks, administrative buildings, workplaces. Something utilitarian and 'disposable'. Not for the squares.