Brutalism: Worth Saving?

Metropolis currently features an article on the impending demolition of Marcel Breuer's Ameritrust Tower in Cleveland. The article reads like a sort of half-hearted defense of the tower and Breuer's body of work, but the sentiment here seems to be pro-preservation, not so much pro-Breuer. It's sort of like the ACLU defending a KKK member's free speech for the sake of protecting free speech itself.

It is a commonly-held belief, understandably so after the devastating social and artistic destruction wrought by the so-called Urban Renewal movement, that the destruction of a building purely on the basis of its being "ugly" or out of fashion is a very dangerous thing. I don't disagree. But I do wonder what can be said for Brutalism, a style of architecture frequently criticized for its indifference to context and its tendancy to be overly conceptual -- to the point of being dehumanizing -- in terms of its value in contemporary society.

It seems futile to debate the merits of one architectural style over another, but there are functional components to style that do, I think, make buildings from some architectural movements of lesser worth to society based on the fact that they do not produce an environment that is conducive to human activity. Brutalism is a style of design that focused on materials and structural honesty (what Wikipedia cutely refers to as "the celebration of concrete.") It is part of a failed utopian vision centered on a kind of rigid equality. It is a style that, as a movement on the whole, failed to acknowledge the messy, blurry lines of human nature. It's no wonder that people can't relate to Brutalist buildings, then, because they are based on a stark idealism that most human beings either don't understand, or flat out reject.

So what can be said for buildings that were designed without people -- the real, unidealized kind -- in mind. Are these buildings worth saving for some sort of artistic merit? Are they worth saving in order to make a point? And if the cost of preserving them is a less human environment, does what we gain by preserving Brutalist structures, in terms of ideals and ideas, offset that cost?


Links:
Farewell, Marcel (Metropolis)

Ameritrust Tower