A while back, I was thinking about the Superdome the other day and started tooling around Wikipedia and checking out stadiums in other cities. I am sure we have all started into the Wikipedia nebula on a fact-finding mission and let its stream-of-consciousness index of links and articles carry us through all sorts of subject matter. Well, from Qualcomm Stadium, I was led to Brutalist Architecture. The I got stuck. I knew I had seen this style before and I knew it was a building I saw frequently. A structure I saw a lot. But I couldn’t quite figure it out.
Then the other day, I was passing through Lee Circle and it was right there.
It didn’t make the list though so perhaps I’m wrong.
June 2nd, 2010 at 4:31 pm - Edit
No you would have to visit the Rivergate for a prime example, but it ain’t dere no more. My father was actually a proponent of this style of architecture when he was the senior non-partner at Curtis & Davis.
June 2nd, 2010 at 6:18 pm - Edit
A bit cold and lifeless to me. Great for a government building.
June 3rd, 2010 at 3:05 pm - Edit
Maybe the Main Library kind of fits this description. I can kind of see the Superdome as a quasi-example but not in any negative sense. I’ve always appreciated the simple elegance of the Superdome which I think is diminished a bit by the overly ornamental gold skin it’s currently receiving.
June 3rd, 2010 at 4:37 pm - Edit
I with ya. Because there is no way Tracy Porter’s barber could have got something like Dallas Stadium shaved into his head.
Love the new gold skin though.
June 4th, 2010 at 8:54 am - Edit
The BR city-parish government building is a classic Brutalist structure over here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Baton_Rouge_Governmental_Building.JPG
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