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Cubic brutalism

Church "Herz Jesu" (1964-65) in Buchs, Switzerland, by Justus Dahinden

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Room with a View

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Renovation of the Zebro Viewpoint, Vilar Barroco, Portugal - Álvaro Siza

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Architecture as Sculpture

The Einstein Tower, Potsdam, Germany,

The Einstein Tower, is one of the best-known examples of German expressionist architecture. Designed as an amorphic structure of reinforced concrete, Mendelsohn wanted the tower to represent as well as facilitate the study of  Einstein’s radical theory of relativity – a groundbreaking theorem of motion, light and space.

Astrophysicist Erin Finlay Freundlich commissioned Mendelsohn (along with a young Richard Neutra on his team) to design the Einstein Tower as a research facility for the theory of relativity. Between 1917-1920 Mendelsohn made numerous sketches of the facility, attempting to create a dynamic structure which would give form to Einstein’s groundbreaking theories. The resulting plan revealed a centralized observatory tower, banded by rings of windows, raised on top of a wavelike platform that would house the laboratories. 

Influenced by the work of expressionist artists of the time, such as the painter Wassily Kandinsky and designer Hermann Obrist, Mr Mendelsohn began to search for new methods of construction that would allow expressional freedom, which is why he eventually settled upon easily sculpted reinforced concrete as his material.

Building commenced in 1921. Unfortunately, however, the sculpted concrete structure proved difficult to execute with the technological capabilities of the time. The failure to complete the building according to his original plan prevented him from designing such ambitious projects in the future, and the Einstein Tower remains his best known building.

The research center opened in 1924 and held the most important solar observatory facilities until World War II, when it was severely damaged. In 1999 the building was reopened, in honor of its 75th anniversary, following two years of renovation; today it houses a working solar observatory as well as a visitors’ center.

Erich Mendelsohn Architect

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Architectural elements as movement

"Reciprocal" House, Hampstead, London, United Kingdom,

The project integrates the enlargement of a house built by Norman Foster in the late 1960s,

Gianni Botsford Architects

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Repetitive Brutalism

58, Rue de Mouzaia, Paris - Canal Architecture

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Slide puzzle Brutalism

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Seaside Bungalow

gio ponti - villa donegani, strada nazionale aurelia, bordighera, liguria, italia, 1940

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Pre- Shin Takamatsu!

Cabralschool (1924-25) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, by Publieke Werken Amsterdam

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Brutalist Living

Untitled House, Cascais, Portugal - Atelier JQTS

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Architecture rock wall!!

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Origami Inspiration!

Church Stella Matutina (1960-64) in Montretout, France, by Alain Bourbonnais & Thierry Bouts

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The Lightness of Being

Brazilia 1

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Brutalist Pipe Organ!

Chiesa di San Paolo (St. Paul's Church), by Giuseppe Salamone, Salvatore Faraci and Gaetano Corvo (2002-2008).

Caltanissetta, Italy.

© Roberto Conte (2025) Follow me on Instagram

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Think Outside The Box

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The Brutalist Ankh!

The Brutalist Lincoln House / 1965 proj. Mary Otis Stevens, Thomas McNulty / Lincoln / Massachusetts

Photo: Julius Shulman / Getty Archives

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Wrightian Palazzo!

Frank Lloyd Wright, Angelo Masieri Foundation, VENICE, 1951-1953,

Unbuilt...