Stark and bare or ‘pared back to the max’? Brutalist architecture is very much a matter of taste. Yet it combines purist form with architectural function to create a total work of art in a more radical fashion than practically any other architectural style. The Oerlikon One high-rise was constructed as a magnificent monument to this building philosophy in 1969.
The term ‘Brutalism’ is derived from the French ‘béton brut’ and describes buildings that use exposed or raw concrete as a stylistic feature. Residential buildings derive particular benefit from a pared-back design idiom, as demonstrated to striking effect by the Marseille development ‘Unité d’Habitation’ by Swiss architect Le Corbusier.
