How do you define art?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
Ian H

Ian H

Guru
Poets seem to have a particular thing about the inutility of their art form. It sometimes comes across almost as bragging.
 

mudsticks

Squire
Poets seem to have a particular thing about the inutility of their art form. It sometimes comes across almost as bragging.

Poets eh..?

Bunch of foppish show offs,

the lot of 'em ... :stop:
 

slowmotion

Active Member
The building is worth preserving but I'm not sure about the "explosion of vibrant creativity".
293
 

slowmotion

Active Member
D

Deleted member 49

Guest
I was at architecture school for most of the Seventies. Of course it's art! I like Brutalist buildings until they get covered in mould, the rusty rebars poke through the concrete, and the flat roofs leak.
Yea I know what you mean....it's not like they become Angkor Wat ! Shame there's not the money for upkeep.
 

slowmotion

Active Member
Yea I know what you mean....it's not like they become Angkor Wat ! Shame there's not the money for upkeep.
It's even more of a shame that architects in northern Europe didn't realise that you had to get the technical details right if you wanted a copy of a Modernist building on the coast of the Mediterranean to look good in the sleet of England. A heroic but complete failure.
 

PK99

Regular
Is the building a piece of art ? My favourite local building 😁 It's good enough to be a piece of Art....
https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/11/pr...brutalism-modernism-community-wealth-building

There was no ground-level pedestrian access - only underground tunnels that soon became muggers alleys and stank of piss. People soon took to risking their lives dodging busses on the concourse. My abiding memory of the place is a stink of rubberized floor tiles that seemed to permeate everything.

It was a dangerous place to catch a bus late on a Friday or Saturday night.

A ghastly place for the user.
 

slowmotion

Active Member
There was no ground-level pedestrian access - only underground tunnels that soon became muggers alleys and stank of piss. People soon took to risking their lives dodging busses on the concourse. My abiding memory of the place is a stink of rubberized floor tiles that seemed to permeate everything.

It was a dangerous place to catch a bus late on a Friday or Saturday night.

A ghastly place for the user.
Yebbut............it's art!
 

slowmotion

Active Member
And breaking taboos of course.

Did you see the sad case of that kid who was hit by a train a few years ago? They were trying to tag the most hidden, most inaccessible, least visible spot they possibly could. Just for kudos if anybody else happened to try it. Urban exploration and planting a flag.
A complete tragedy, but is being killed by a train with a spray can in your hand actually art? Isn't it just an act of stupidity?
 

stowie

Active Member
It's even more of a shame that architects in northern Europe didn't realise that you had to get the technical details right if you wanted a copy of a Modernist building on the coast of the Mediterranean to look good in the sleet of England. A heroic but complete failure.

I have visited Brasilia. Not sure if it classed as brutalist or modernist or something else. It certainly has a lot of concrete.

There are definitely beautiful buildings. The Cathedral is simply wonderful. Outside it is a really sleek, almost anonymous design but inside you realise the whole roof is stained glass which is stunning. Niemeyer had a good day when he designed this structure.

The Court of Justice and Legislature buildings are beautiful in their own way. But, when I was there and looking at the buildings from the large concrete square in between the two buildings I noticed most people huddled together next to the only statue in this concrete plaza. Then I realised why. It was the only shade anywhere on the plaza and the sun was farking hot. I soon joined the huddle.

And that seems to be the problem with this phase of architecture. Brasilia felt like it had been designed by someone with a deep understanding of using concrete and steel as a form but had totally forgotten that Brasila is quite hot. The huge row of administrative buildings are built to be imposing and sleek, except the outside is now peppered with air conditioning units as a measure to try to keep the interior from turning into an oven. It looks like the buildings have sprouted warts. Vast empty spaces and the spread out nature of Brasilia means travel in anything other than a car is futile. A brutalist imagining of Milton Keynes.

I came away impressed by the buildings but wished that modernism / brutalism had discovered trees.
 
D

Deleted member 49

Guest
There was no ground-level pedestrian access - only underground tunnels that soon became muggers alleys and stank of piss. People soon took to risking their lives dodging busses on the concourse. My abiding memory of the place is a stink of rubberized floor tiles that seemed to permeate everything.

It was a dangerous place to catch a bus late on a Friday or Saturday night.

A ghastly place for the user.
Yea but it's gorgeous.....that's not something you'll hear from a Blackpudlian about Preston very often :rolleyes:
 

slowmotion

Active Member
Thats the point...it's almost organic.The jungle is reclaiming it or it was.Went 25 years ago and spent a week there.One of the few places that blew my mind or was that the local smoke 😁
Visitors coming to revere ancient temples might put up with a spot of slime and mould. Back here in the West, the frantic consumers, eager for a dopamine hit, won't like it when their shopping centre turns green.
 
Top Bottom