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brutalism

[ broot-l-iz-uhm ]

noun

  1. Architecture. a style of modernist architecture, originating in the 1950s, characterized by exposed structural materials and plain, massive, often steeply angular geometric forms, typically of unfinished concrete.
  2. a style in art, furniture, jewelry, etc., influenced by this architecture and often characterized by outsized elements or the use of unfinished or roughly textured materials.


brutalism

/ ˈbruːtəˌlɪzəm /

noun

  1. an austere style of architecture characterized by emphasis on such structural materials as undressed concrete and unconcealed service pipes Also callednew brutalism
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˈbrutalist, nounadjective
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Other Words From

  • bru·tal·ist noun adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of brutalism1

First recorded in 1795–1805, for literal sense; brutal + -ism; in reference to architecture first used by British architects Alison Smithson (1928–93) and Peter Smithson (1923–2003) in 1953
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Example Sentences

Its chairman, Justin Shubow, has railed repeatedly and absurdly against brutalism, the style in which Bunshaft designed the Hirshhorn and its garden.

Brutalism avant-la-lettre, and as usual, I love all that concrete.

High and long sustained, the sublime anthem rolled above the battle and its brutalism.

It is enough to say of this old heathen dream, that there never was such a state of savage brutalism known since man was man.

Its bald brutalism flourishes freely only when covered and disguised.

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