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The Barbican

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723 points farslan | 3 comments | 12 May 25 15:28 UTC | HN request time: 0.664s | source
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Ericson2314 ◴[12 May 25 17:18 UTC] No.43965349[source]▶
One thing that I think is underappreciated as a distinguishing factor of brutalism is how three-dimensional it is.

Whether its the Barbican, or "Grad Center" at Brown University, there are all sorts of elevated walkways that you can see from other levels, defying "every floor is like every other floor" expectations.

I think I have vague memories of when being a small child, being filled with wonder at various municipal buildings that did this. Though my memory hazy and I cannot remember the specific buildings.

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1. bobthepanda ◴[12 May 25 19:27 UTC] No.43966665[source]▶
These became less popular over time due to cost and safety reasons.

Interbuilding passageways complicate future renovation and redevelopment, and spreading eyes on the street thinly makes all walking areas harder to secure.

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2. the_mitsuhiko ◴[12 May 25 21:14 UTC] No.43967526[source]▶
> Interbuilding passageways complicate future renovation and redevelopment

They are also incredibly inconvenient. London had many walkways because they wanted to give cars priority, and they largely became unused and became a source for litter.

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3. bobthepanda ◴[13 May 25 08:29 UTC] No.43970770[source]▶
They can be done well but it has to be thoughtful.

Passageways in Hong Kong are popular, but that’s because the pedestrian density is so high they manage to fill both the skywalk and street level. The passageways provide shelter from tropical sun and rain, sometimes even air conditioning. And it’s a very hilly city anyways, so often you are picking between walking uphill on a plain sidewalk vs. doing it on a skywalk with escalators and elevators.