Brutalism Takes Second in AIA Miami Photography Competition

“Soft Brutalism” took 2nd Place in the AIA|Miami Photography Competition

The Hirshhorn Museum is a perennial favorite here at Brutalist DC, and we’re always looking for new angles that accentuate its textural qualities. On this otherwise dreary day, enough water had collected on a wall at the nearby Air & Space Museum that an opportunity for a double Hirshhorn exposure presented itself. With a depth of field that rendered the foreground out-of-focus, the Hirshhorn appears softer in its reflection, allowing its distinct cylindrical form to blur at the edges. This image, drawn from the Brutalist DC Instagram feed and taken by Brutalist DC founder Deane Madsen, took second place in the color category of AIA|Miami’s 2018 Architecture Photography Competition.

See the full set of winners at AIA|Miami

Brutalist DC on CGTN America

Screenshot from CGTN America segment on Brutalism in Washington
Screenshot from CGTN America segment on Brutalism in Washington

Brutalism is in the news once again, with founder Deane Madsen appearing on CGTN America to discuss Washington, D.C.’s collection of Brutalism at the Hirshhorn Museum. CGTN reporter Owen Fairclough surveys the deep catalogue of D.C.’s Brutalist buildings and interviews Madsen about his love of the style. Walking in the courtyard of the Hirshhorn Museum, Madsen praises Brutalism’s texture, materiality, and expression of structure, all of which are on display at the Hirshhorn. Of course, Brutalism is an often misunderstood moniker, as brief snippets with passersby illustrate.

The segment first aired on Oct. 5, 2018. Watch the full clip via CGTN America or below:

Many thanks to Owen Fairclough, Ahmad Coo, and the rest of the CGTN production team for putting all of this together. Thanks also to the gracious Hirshhorn Museum staff for facilitating the filming. A gratuitous selection of screenshots from the segment follows. 

Screenshot from CGTN America segment on Brutalism in Washington
Screenshot from CGTN America segment on Brutalism in Washington
Screenshot from CGTN America segment on Brutalism in Washington
Screenshot from CGTN America segment on Brutalism in Washington

Deane Madsen to Speak about Brutalist DC Origins at Hirshhorn/AM

photo courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum

Over the past few years, the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum has emerged as one of the main proponents of World Architecture Day in the Washington, D.C. region. This year, the Hirshhorn teams up with the National Building Museum for two full days of programming (Sept. 30 and Oct. 1) to mark the occasion, and, as an endcap to the week, the Hirshhorn will have Brutalist DC founder Deane Madsen for coffee and conversation as part of its Hirshhorn/AM program.

2018 marks the third year running that Brutalist DC has teamed up with the Hirshhorn to celebrate World Architecture Day. Previous collaborations include an IGDC instameet and architecture tour in 2017, and a Walk With Locals meet-up and architecture tour in 2016.

 

BrutalistDC Featured in On Tap Magazine’s District of Design Edition

On Tap Magazine recently released its July edition, which focused on design in Washington. BrutalistDC founder Deane Madsen was thrilled to be interviewed by M.K. Koszycki for the issue, an excerpt of which is below:

On Tap: Why is Brutalist architecture so important to the architectural landscape of DC?
Deane Madsen: For one, there’s just so much of it. Look at any satellite image of Southwest DC and you’ll find enormous superblocks of government buildings rendered in concrete: the Department of Energy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, L’Enfant Plaza. Two, most of it arose during an era of urban renewal in Washington. The Brutalist architecture in the District breaks from the traditions of Neoclassical, Federal and Gothic Revival to present buildings constructed at the height of post-war optimism.

OT: What are some common misconceptions about Brutalism and how do you respond to them?
DM: Probably the biggest misconception about Brutalist buildings is that they’re somehow brutal. I sometimes joke that these buildings are not, in fact, out to kill you—chunks of concrete falling off the FBI Building are the result of neglect, not malice. The other default reaction to Brutalism is that it’s ugly. I get it, not everyone appreciates the aesthetic. And there’s no way I’m going to be able to change someone’s taste, but when I’m giving tours of Brutalist buildings, I encourage people to get up close and examine tactile features such as board-formed concrete. On the pairs of columns at the base of HUD, for example, you can actually feel the grain of the wood that was used to form the columns embedded in the concrete. The attention to detail paid to the concrete formwork resounds throughout the rest of the architecture as well, and if I can help people appreciate the architectural effort behind these buildings, perhaps they can also grow to like them.

OT: What led you to create the BrutalistDC Instagram account and website?
DM: Washington has an amazing breadth of architecture, but the city’s government buildings of the 1960s and 1970s—the urban renewal era—are much maligned, and, quite frankly, I was tired of seeing Brutalist buildings top lists of DC’s ugliest. My goal in creating BrutalistDC was to advocate for an underappreciated set of buildings and to show them in ways that highlight their textural beauty.

OT: What are your favorite Brutalist buildings in DC and why?
DM: The Hirshhorn Museum is easily my favorite Brutalist building in D.C., for many reasons, but the foremost is that the staff of the Hirshhorn understands the value of their museum’s architecture, and works hard to maintain, promote, and improve it; a recent lobby renovation stands out as an example of a sensitive addition to an already great space. The Hirshhorn benefits from its prime location at the midpoint of the National Mall, and its diminutive scale relative to the nearby Air & Space Museum and
National Gallery of Art makes for a pleasant respite. The Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden is also perhaps one of D.C.’s best-kept secrets, with shaded greens populated with works by the likes of Auguste Rodin, Barbara Pepper, and Henry Moore, along with more recent acquisitions such as Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin.

Beyond the Hirshhorn, there are plenty of other buildings to love, but I’m especially keen on the architecture of D.C. Metro, which was designed by Harry Weese and opened in 1976. The deeply coffered, column-free vaults evoke the monumental scale of Washington (each station is 600 feet long) while also serving up dramatic—and photogenic—shadows, thanks to lighting designer William Lam.

Read the full article at On Tap Magazine

World Architecture Day x WalkWithLocals x Hirshhorn

World Architecture Day at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden was a smashing success! Many thanks to Hilary-Morgan Watt and Allison Peck from the Hirshhorn and to Carl Maynard of WalkWithLocals for hosting, and thank you to all the 200+ folks who showed up to hear dubious comparisons between strawberry purée as doughnut filling and crushed “Swenson” pink granite as concrete aggregate.

Hirshhorn Celebrates World Architecture Day Oct. 3 With Free Donuts and @BrutalistDC Architecture Tour

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.

The Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.’s “Brutalist Donut,” has announced a World Architecture Day celebration set for October 3, 2016, with locally-made donuts and architecture tours. BrutalistDC founder Deane Madsen has been invited to lead an architectural tour in collaboration with @WalkWithLocals, a Washington, D.C.-based photography meetup group that regularly hosts photography walks in and around the capital city.

Read the full release from the Hirshhorn below:

September 20, 2016—Visitors are invited to the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Monday, Oct. 3, to celebrate #WorldArchitectureDay by enjoying “Donuts with the ‘Brutalist Donut’”—a day of complimentary donuts and free architecture tours of its iconic circular building.

Tours by experts, including the Atlantic’s Kriston Capps and Architect’s Deane Madsen, will reveal the genius of the Hirshhorn’s unique spaces and how the museum’s rebellious, modern style changed ideas of design. Then, visitors can enjoy a delicious Hirshhorn-inspired donut from Zombie Coffee and Donuts, created especially for this day (while supplies last).

A new special session, ARTLAB+ Storytime at 10 a.m., invites the museum’s youngest visitors ages birth to preschool, to enjoy a read-aloud of the children’s book Iggy Peck Architect and a hands-on building activity. Nursing moms and strollers are welcome.

Affectionately nicknamed the “Brutalist donut,” the Gordon Bunshaft-designed Hirshhorn, the Smithsonian’s museum of modern art, is one of the most celebrated examples of the Brutalist architectural style that flourished during the 1950s–1970s. Other well-known local Brutalist landmarks include Washington’s Metro stations and the J. Edgar Hoover (FBI) Building.

10 a.m. tour: ARTLAB+ Storytime for young visitors birth to preschool and their caregivers

Noon tour: Critic Kriston Capps (@kristoncapps) writes for the Atlantic’s CityLab on art, architecture and the shape of cities today. The public can join online via FacebookLive at facebook.com/thisiscitylab.

3:30 p.m. tour: Gallery-guide tour of architecture-inspired artwork in the Hirshhorn’s collection.

6 p.m. tourDeane Madsen (@deane_madsen) is the associate editor of Architect magazine and runs @brutalistDC, an Instagram celebration of the District’s concrete masterpieces.