In their ninth architectural city guide, London-based publisher Blue Crow Media highlights the city of Boston’s Brutalist buildings. The map was produced in collaboration with the principles of the firm over,under Chris Grimley and Mark Pasnik along with Michael Kubo, who together authored the book “Heroic: Concrete Architecture and the New Boston.” The map highlights more than forty examples of Brutalist architecture around the greater-Boston area.
Acclaimed works such as the Boston City Hall by Kallmann, McKinnell and Knowles, the Government Service Center by Paul Rudolph, and Madison Park High School by Marcel Breuer are featured in the guide. It also includes the only North American building by Le Corbusier, the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. The Charlestown Branch Library by Eduardo Catalano and the Josiah Quincy School by The Architects Collaborative are examples of the lesser known works.
Concrete infrastructure projects built in the 1960’s and 1970s such as hospitals, universities and government buildings were part of an urban renewal effort called “New Boston.” The city's legacy of concrete architecture proliferated through a variety of institutional and commercial works spread across the region. The revitalization aimed to modernize, though like many urban renewal efforts, left some communities fractured.
Boston reinvented itself through the concrete architecture of this period, said Chris Grimley, one of the authors of the map. This guide highlights both the heroic and hubristic buildings of the era, and advocates for a radical rethinking of their place in the city today.
Brutalist Boston Map is part of a series, that includes cities such as Paris and Sydney, by Blue Crow Media that explores 20th century architecture. According to the publisher, the maps are designed to assert the importance of Brutalist and concrete architecture, which has often been the subject of polarizing public debate.
Available for $10 USD, €9, and £8 here, the guide features an introduction to architecture in the area along with photographs and details of each building. Maps for New York and Tokyo will be released later this year.
News Via: Blue Crow Media.
New Map Celebrates Sydney's Brutalist Architecture
Sydney is the latest city spotlighted by city map publisher Blue Crow Media, with the release of their fourth map of Brutalist architecture. Produced in collaboration with Glenn Harper, Senior Associate at PTW Architects and founder of @Brutalist_Project_Sydney, Brutalist Sydney Map showcases over 50 examples of the architectural style across the New South Wales (NSW) city and suburbs.
