BHX MOD SOC MAP_ Glossary : USA

USA:

While the most theatrical Brutalist buildings remain in the former USSR, there are plenty more of these controversial concrete complexes around the world, including the United States of America.

The image above shows St. Joseph Medical Centre in Washington. This building was designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg, using  plywood and concrete to create ribbed columnar structures. The structure is elevated on flared concrete columns to protect it from shock in the event of an earthquake and the reinforced concrete was covered in white fibreglass.

Another notable American building is the Endo-Pharmaceutical Laboratories located in Long Island, New York. It was designed by Paul Rudolph and built in 1962.  Today, it stands as one of America’s most striking post World War II Brutalist buildings.

Rudolph achieved considerable success as a designer of houses about 1950, and in the subsequent decade made interesting contributions to the expansion of the contemporary idiom in larger buildings. In particular, Rudolph has made an effort to transpose the vigorous late style of Le Corbusier in designs for religious, educational and commercial buildings. 

Sarah Abuzeid