Ethic Lost: Brutalism and the Regeneration of Social Housing Estates in Great Britain
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Date
2015-08-18
Authors
Karp, Mackenzie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Between the late 1940s and the 1970s, the New Brutalism attempted to establish an ethical architecture befitting post-World War II Britain. For this reason, it became a popular style for public buildings, including social housing. Brutalist social housing estates were conceived by progressive post-war architects to house Britain’s neediest. Through an analysis of the utopian roots of Brutalism and the decline of the style and its ethic in scholarship and popular culture, I analyze the current redevelopment of three seminal Brutalist housing estates and the rediscovery of the Brutalist aesthetic by contemporary scholars and consumers alike. In this thesis, I argue that due to multiple factors, including a housing shortage across Britain, rising real-estate values and a general consumer interest in mid-century design, these estates are undergoing such regenerations. My thesis enhances our understanding of how social and political influences have shaped post-war British social housing up to the present.
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Keywords
Brutalism, Great Britain, Public housing, Regeneration, Social housing, The Smithsons