trellick tower

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Trellick Tower 2021 Campaign #SaveTrellickHallofFame

18th February 2021

By greyscape

brutalist social housing in london borough of camden

Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate British Brutalist Architecture Through Russian Eyes

4th September 2019

By greyscape

@Barbican_City_of_London

In memory of Zvi Hecker (31 May 1931 - 24 Septembe

In memory of Zvi Hecker (31 May 1931 - 24 September 2023).

We’ve been fans of Zvi Hecker from the early days of our exploration of brutalist architecture, his creativity is perfectly illustrated by this striking 1971 synagogue near to Mitzpe Ramon designed with Alfred Neumann. Located in an area of stark natural beauty on the northern ridge of the Ramon Crater in the Negev Desert, Israel, it’s a brilliant example of brutalist architecture. What's so interesting about the facade of this building is that as well as being super pleasing to look at, there seems to be a clever twist to this geometric architecture, it is as if the hexagons look like the Star of David. Or maybe it's imagination gone wild. It's accessible by invitation only as its on private land. According to a visitor, the triangles let in air and a small amount of light into the interior.

Hecker was a prolific and constantly creative architect. Known for his interest and emphasis on geometry and asymmetry, he was born Tadeusz Hecker in Kraków, Poland. He grew up in Poland and Samarkand and began his education in architecture at the Cracow University of Technology. Emigrating to Israel in 1950, he studied architecture at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, graduating in 1955. At the Technion, renowned Israeli architect Eldar Sharon was a classmate, and Alfred Neumann, already well established in architectural circles was their professor.

Photo with thanks to Zvi Hecker Architect for this image

Why going to the Post Office in Skopje is so excit

Why going to the Post Office in Skopje is so exciting…. if only it were still operational! Photo with thanks to @robthartfot

Cavalier Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida, 1936. Integr

Cavalier Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida, 1936. Integral to the architect Roy F France’s Tropical Deco designs was that they must 'Let in the air and sun. That's what people come to Florida for.'

The building exudes an optimism as some parts of America came out the depression, a design channeling a bright, automated future in a better world.

Roy France was amongst a small group of architects who created the Ocean Drive, Miami Beach we are so familiar with. It’s steady increase in popularity had begun in the 1920s but was short lived due to a catastrophic hurricane in 1926. However a tropical storm wasn’t going to stop the development of the area that the Minnesota-born, Chicago trained architect visited in 1931. He spotted a fantastic opportunity, left the Mid-West and made Miami his home. He went on to build many hotels, a small number of which are still standing and have protected status.

The sunshine city shook off the depression a little quicker than others and to the dismay of locals in 1928, Al Capone made a prime location mansion on Palm Island his second home, living there before and after his release from prison. Was ‘scarface’ the pathfinder for organised crime? Ask Don Johnson:)

During WW2 the area was requisitioned by the army and the hotels now became ‘mess halls’. The ‘50s saw a return to growth and a continuing tale of real estate bubbles, booms and busts.

1n 1976 Barbara Baer Capitman together with industrial designer Leonard Horowitz and a group of activists created the Miami Design Preservation League in an effort to counter redevelopment of the area. The fruits of their labour enabled the preservation of the Art Deco district which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Whilst the original hotels that remain are protected, the area remains under constant threat by developers crowding the area with high rises.

Image: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

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