Brutal is beautiful when it comes to architecture’s ugly duckling

If there was any lingering doubt that Brutalism — the architectural style derided for everything the name implies — was back in fashion, the “Atlas of Brutalist Architecture” quashes it with a monumental thump. Citing social media and the distance afforded by time, they argue for the embrace of Brutalism as a broader aesthetic temporally untethered — they include works dating to the 1920s and buildings from 2017, writing, “There’s an ever-growing consensus that Brutalism is less of an historic movement confided to the later decades of the twentieth century, and more of a continually evolving tradition that draws on a multitude of influences.” Synagogue, Officers Training School, Zvi Hecker; Alfred Neumann, Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, 1968. Grand Central Water Tower, GAPP Architects & Urban Designers, Midrand, South Africa, 1996 But while the “Atlas” is chock-full of international architecture illustrated with elegant black and white photography, it’s not for purists. “Atlas of Brutalist Architecture” But rather than quibble, it might be more useful to turn to the recently published “Concrete Los Angeles Map: Guide to Concrete and Brutalist Architecture in LA.” The map lists some 50 projects, counting two of my personal favorites: the Glendale Municipal Services Building, which bears formal similarity to a window air conditioning unit built out of concrete, and the richly textured Braille Institute.