"The New Brutalism" by Reyner Banham is a seminal essay published in 1955, which played a significant role in defining and popularizing the architectural style known as Brutalism. Banham, a British architectural historian and critic, argued in the essay that a new kind of architecture was emerging in the post-war period, characterized by its use of raw concrete, functionalism, and rejection of ornamental decoration.
Reyner Banham’s 1966 book, The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic? , remains the defining manifesto for one of the most misunderstood architectural movements of the 20th century. This paper argues that Banham’s primary intervention was not merely to catalogue a style, but to elevate a nascent architectural attitude into a coherent critical category. By tracing Banham’s argument from its origins in the 1950s Architectural Review to the book’s final form, this analysis demonstrates how Banham distinguished New Brutalism from orthodox Modernism through its tripartite commitment: memorability as an image, a radical honesty of materials , and an aesthetic of “as found” reality. Ultimately, the paper concludes that Banham’s Brutalism was less about raw concrete (béton brut) and more about a moral and intellectual posture against the establishment of the International Style. the new brutalism by reyner banham
Crucially, Banham also introduces the concept of the Borrowed from the Smithsons, this aesthetic embraces the everyday, the vernacular, and the imperfect. A brutalist building does not invent a utopian order; it confronts the existing order—the water tower, the exhaust vent, the service stair—and elevates these “found” elements without ironic distance. This is where Banham’s criticism becomes radical: the beautiful is no longer a property of form, but of truthfulness . "The New Brutalism" by Reyner Banham is a
Banham concluded that while it manifested as a specific visual style, its roots were fundamentally an . He argued that the "New Brutalism" was not about creating ugly buildings, but about creating buildings of integrity . , remains the defining manifesto for one of
In 1955, the architectural critic Reyner Banham published an essay in Architectural Review titled He didn’t just coin a label; he captured a revolution. While the word "Brutalism" is often associated today with cold, imposing concrete blocks, Banham’s original definition was far more nuanced, radical, and ethically driven.
By the 1960s, Banham himself began to distance his definition from what the movement became. As "Brutalism" evolved into a global shorthand for massive, windowless concrete structures, the original "Ethic" was often lost to a "Style."
Who was jokingly nicknamed "Brutus" by his peers.