PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – When an exposed concrete subway vault near the U.S. Capitol was painted white this spring, riders rejoiced at the brightened Washington Metro station. But some preservationists were unhappy, complaining that a “cardinal rule” of the Brutalist style was broken.
Brutalism, which got its name from a French word for raw concrete, has been sparking public battles ever since the architectural style flourished in the 1960s and 1970s, spawning buildings from Boston to Belgrade.
Now, the era’s aging structures are being declared eyesores and slated for demolition in cities around the world. Or, as in Washington’s Union Station, their austere features have been softened.
___
DEATH TOLL