- brutalism
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—brutalist, n., adj./brooht"l iz'euhm/, n.(in modern architecture) the aesthetic use of basic building processes with no apparent concern for visual amenity.[1795-1805, for literal sense; BRUTAL + -ISM; in reference to architecture first used by British architects Alison Smithson (b. 1928) and Peter Smithson (b. 1923) in 1953]
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Term coined (1953) to describe Le Corbusier's use of monumental, sculptural shapes and raw, unfinished molded concrete, an approach that represented a departure from International Style.New Brutalist architects displayed a willful avoidance of polish and elegance in their buildings, exposing such structural elements as steel beams and precast concrete slabs to convey a stark, austere rectilinearity. See also Louis Kahn, James Stirling.* * *
Universalium. 2010.