My walk around Cardiff this week encompassed not only the classical cultural architecture of the National Museum and adjacent municipal buildings – it also included the brutalist concrete architecture of the University of Wales buildings situated in the same block. The area is interspersed with beautiful formal gardens but it is not this that I was focusing on during this walk – I also get great enjoyment from looking at the various patterns, textures and perspectives created by the architects.
“Brutalist” seems like a good term for these huge blocks of concrete but there are many subtleties of surface to be seen, particularly after the constructions have been weathered for some time. The notable style of the brutalist is also preferable to the mundane functionality of some of the buildings in between – indeed the developers only get away with their straightforward functionalism because of the surrounding style and imagination of the classical and brutalism surrounding it.
