Montreal's Controversial Architecture

[@intuneckcu7574]

Your videos are dope, it makes me proud of this city in a way I hadn't been before.

[@hindenpeter2.04]

You can see the burbs in the beginning of Ginger snaps!

[@khiarov]

First time I stepped into Préfontaine, I just stood in awe of the place. Two trains passed by while I was just taking pictures. Sublime!

[@Fidel_Castor_QCer]

J'ai beaucoup aimé ton explication sur le style brutaliste de Montréal. J'espère qu'on saura un jour apprécier davantage cet héritage que l'on néglige depuis trop longtemps. Et qui fait le buzz sur KZbin dans les pays de l'ex-URSS.

[@NB_703]

This video changed so much of my perception of Montreal (I’m from here). I’ve always hated concrete. I found it to be the ugliest material. From buildings, to the turcot, the metros, to everywhere I looked, concrete was there. It was stained. It was dirty. Rebar would poke out. It was heavy looking. It was masculine. It lacked love. It was harsh. It was lazy. It was riddled with stories of the mafia control. I hated it. Absolutely hated it. And in about 6:43 minutes.... you completely changed my perception. I still think it should get a good cleaning though. I want to power wash so many buildings!

[@Gomba13]

Yeah, if it is your hometown, you grew up around omnipresent brutalism, which kinda makes you oblivious to it and doesn't allow you to appreciate it. It isn't until you travel and that people from other countries talk to you about your hometown that you finally open your eyes to stuff that was right in front of them all along-and can't wait to go home to explore the stuff you've been oblivious to with fresh eyes. I was lucky: an architect friend of mine opened my eyes without having to go abroad for it to happen. My absolute favourite, which strangely never gets mentioned: De l'Église metro station, mostly for the outside buildings (there are two) but also for some of the really cool details inside. Check out the out-of-this-world story of how that station was built and why it was built that way. Hint: it is the only metro station of the city that has superposed rails where both trains move in the same direction. The story behind that is a treat. The architects who designed those buildings are my heroes, true alchemists.

[@pentagram4745]

The old ones (built 90s and earlier) are fine. But the newer ones, especially those built for the movement brutalism, are just cringe. Going against "beauty" but at the same time deliberately employing over-the-top ugly look just for the sake of it, without agency as to function, sounds hypocritical. Brutalism should remain as a remnant. The movement is just so cringe tbh.

[@hindenpeter2.04]

Fair enuff, now i hate it all bar that Balfron Tower made by Goldfinger but only in 1 music video. Just freemasons having bigtime fun making life duller..GHASTLY🙃

[@amorpaz1]

Yeah lol I remain totally unconvinced

[@Z1a_qui_boucane]

thank you for this great video!

[@Xachremos]

I've lived in Montreal pretty much my whole life and I never even knew that our brutalist architecture was special and unique. Thats just how it was and what I remember since I was a kid. And now I love it and don't want it to go away.

[@velhiyaar8631]

The production quality has really been improving significantly! Looking forward to seeing the channel grow more

[@sundogshower]

Love the music selection! It feels right with the shots of those building facades. Well done Paige👌!

[@SaroucheZeSituation]

Loved your video !! Very well explained ! Sometimes I just felt that the music was too loud when you talked and made it harder to understand. But loved the music too ! Great job

[@agorixel9513]

No gonna lie even being aware of brutalism for years and living Montreal since foreverrr I never noticed this

[@philp2391]

Great video!

[@louisd.8928]

One building you should look into, if you like the style, is the Judith Jasmin Hall at Universite du Quebec a Montreal, near Berri Metro Station. They have kept a significant outside portion of a church on the outside and on parts of the inside, while adding significant Brutalist elements to it, such as massive concrete staircases and beams. Quite an interesting hybrid.

[@zzzz000]

DUDE thank you so much for your content. as an anglophone facinated with Montreal. I appreciate it

[@derjansan9564]

Superb video. Love the soundtrack :)

[@danopticon]

Yahoo! Three words into your intro, I _knew_ you were going to say 🤘 *BRUTALISM* 🤘 Growing up in Latin America in the ‘70s, I was surrounded by Brutalism. And we loved it! Large overhangs for shade, loads of breezeways, concrete retaining the cool during the day and the warmth at night … _sigh_ … bring back _le brutalisme,_ please!! (Also, lots of brutalist architecture has lots of windows and loads of interior light … it’s just not always apparent from the outside.) Mid-century modernism, ‘60s and ‘70s futurism, brutalism, some Mies-inspired minimalism … it all still looks like the future to me. I would pay double to live in a Le Corbu “nightmare.” Maybe someday…?

[@DiscoverMontréal]

Your videos are so much fun, great stuff man. You should do an in-depth look at the metro!

[@00O000OO]

Great video, unique and interesting take on Brutalism. Love the music!

[@jacklong1844]

I love the quaint nature of the city

[@MM-fy8yx]

This is great! Totally changed by perspective on those buildings. It's true, they are very Montreal.

[@JCG79]

You could do a whole video on the Metro architecture, so unique!

[@PaigeMTL]

I think I could do Radisson and Verdun, or maybe a highlights reel. There's another KZbinr called TheNovaBusFan who did a Q&A at each person's favorite station. If you're into transit, him and RMTransit go in deep.

[@JCG79]

@@PaigeMTL I don't know why but when I'm on the platform at Verdun I feel as if I'm in the firing chamber of the Death Star or something.

[@Gomba13]

@@JCG79 When in Verdun metro station, if I look up (I now do every time I am there, up is where the beauty is), I feel like I am in an ancient cathedral built by extraterrestrials. It commands respect and awe.

[@Gomba13]

@@PaigeMTL Please also consider De l'Église, a seriously overlooked brutalist gem, while you are a stone's throw from Verdun station. Look into its history, it is one of the most impressive secrets of the city. I promise it will blow your mind and give you a whole new appreciation of the current form of that station.

[@alext870]

I was born and raised in Montreal and I LOVE BRUTALISM! There are so many beautiful examples of it in Ahunstic BTW.

[@ticklemeelmo73]

I did some growing up on Nun's Island in the 70s, and I remember thinking "so much concrete" whenever we went to Montreal proper. Very interesting video.

[@TD-gc5tq]

Brutalism is the Paige Saunders of architecture; it desserve way more likes. 👍

[@Gomba13]

I love this video! Love the research put into it, chock full of historical facts. Also love the wide diversity of buildings mentioned and the zoom into details. Much better than other videos that are touristy AF, only scratching the surface, with elevator music (ballsy choice of music for this one). Overall, a nice passionate account of Montreal's brutalism history, makes me want to revisit lots of places in my hometown. By the way, what English do you speak? Sounds like a mix of Canadian and Kiwi English, super cool mix!

[@Mathias_NB]

Liked, subbed, 50 yr old lifelong Mtl'er here. Great content, much appreciated.

[@matthewjames6587]

wow just wow

[@meltingtomato]

Finally, someone who appreciates Brutalism and how stunning concrete can be when done right. A big box with windows from the floor to the ceiling (and probably even the ceiling itself) is just so...boring.

[@andrewweitzman4006]

I never even connected the much reviled Brutalist architecture with the Metro. It was always just "there" as part of the fabric of daily life and commuting. Then recently I read about the creation of the Metro and its heritage of public art. At which point I noticed all those flourishes--like the interconnected spheres at Namur Station--that had been background noise all my life. Boston City Hall is still ugly as AF, though.

[@fakecanadien]

bravo!

[@adrianblaze]

Never really knew about brutalism! Thank you for creating this.

[@SomeDudeQC]

Préfontaine IS the best station, thank you.

[@JustFrank-t9n]

I never really thought about it before but it's true! In fact, in '75/'76 I lived in the East Tower of the U de M student residence on Edouar-Montpetit and it was definitey designed in the Brutalist style. It had some nice lines to it. And the concrete which is a hallmark of the style has a porousness that made for good air circulation and even had a telltale fragrance, albeit subtle

[@zeyadgenena7706]

so underrated

[@TristouMTL]

Thank you for defending -- and showing so many good examples of -- brutalism in Montréal. Not all of it is well done, but so much of it is! I'm glad to know we're known for it, and it is part of the reason I say Montréal is the most architecturally interesting city in Canada. We don't have much starchitecture, and you have to hunt sometimes to find examples, but it's there. And Préfontaine has become my favourite station, too. For brutalism, it's incredibly subtle and pleasant.

[@NB_703]

I had no idea it was a thing!

[@alexsimonelis164]

Yess! Modern art and architecture has sunk to bad lows. Time for change back to beauty.

[@proposmontreal]

"World capital" is a bit... brutal But really, cities like Boston or even Brasilia could compete for that title. That being said, our complete subway architecture is brutalism and Montreal raised in the sixties, golden years of the style. I love brutalism when it's well done, Habitat, Metro, McLennan Library or even, dare I say, the Rigaud But on the other hand it can be fugly as hell, like the Place Bonaventure that makes the architectural current look bad. Another good video there.

[@PaigeMTL]

"Is a world capital", I would probably vote for London if I had to choose one, WW2 reconstruction and state planning. But I'd say we'd take the title for North America, the Metro was kind of like hitting the jackpot.

[@PaigeMTL]

You know what? As I worked on this one Bonaventure and the Rigaud, they actually won me over. I think this brutalism thing is contagious, be careful!

[@canadaehxplained77]

I hadn't noticed how much the architecture had influenced my 'vibe' of MTL - but literally, that was the same reaction I had about the REM stations - I just couldn't put my finger on why. I think the brutalist public spaces melds with the stairs-to-the-street apartment buildings of Montreal perfectly.

[@PaigeMTL]

They're going with the glass, concrete and sound dampening wood thing that's very standard these days. Hopefully the blue line extension keeps with the theme for the metro. I appreciate the high effort videos BTW, welcome to KZbin Canada Club

[@canadaehxplained77]

@@PaigeMTL Thank you!! Honestly, we're just having fun looking into the variety of stories that exist in this country.

[@Z1a_qui_boucane]

but it was WELL DONE.

[@cornoc]

opening montage was quite well done, nice editing in sync with the music. brutalism forever, if you don't like it, i don't like you!

[@andyb2339]

🗿I love this video essay! Remembering all the hardcore brutalism from when I lived Minneapolis. In NYC now, need to make a trip and see this awesome subway you've got 🤘

[@imaastronaut111]

Beautiful video! I have also recently started to love brutalism through the lens of structuralism... but I'm even coming around to appreciate concrete monumentalism now. I still hate Place Bonaventure though. I think it's easier to appreciate indoor brutalism spaces, like the Métro, more than outdoor spaces because we can make them artificially warm and bright, as opposed to spaces like the old Place Viger, which was at the mercy of the elements.

[@ronlavoie8907]

Fantastic video! Of course, I would use a different musical metaphor, the repeating patterns of Brutalism suggesting tech house.

[@Grantonioful]

Ooo on an architectural note, I moved my sister into a the fourth floor of her building in Verdun using the outdoor spinny stairs. Could you explain their existence cause I'd love to see that video!

[@PaigeMTL]

Just have to find an appropriate local band for spinny stairs

[@Gomba13]

Spinny stairs, LOL! Obviously, spinny stairs allow you to build a building close to the sidewalk as they save a lot of space. Fire escape stairs are spinny because they allow you to have more usable backyard space, and the front spinny stairs allow you to leave more room for the actual building. Notice that all the neighbourhoods dominated by spinny stairs were originally working class, so accomplishing a lot on small lots was important. Also, those spinny stairs are much cheaper than stairs made of any other material. You also can't really make spinny stairs out of wood or brick or stone. So the overall explanation is economy, both of cost and of space.

[@Gomba13]

@@PaigeMTL Groovy Aardvark, from the 90s. Perhaps Bee, from Vacuum? One of the most defining local bands of the 90s, and also one of the rare bilingual ones, most songs are in English but sung with an obvious Québécois accent. Not very hard to dust off, still very listenable today.

[@jonathanlanglois2742]

Having also lived in Montreal, I do agree that there are indeed great exemples of brutalism which must be preserved. The Maison Radio Canada certainly falls within that scope. However, there are those buildings that I have absolutely no love for. Gare Centrale is one of those. It's one of those spaces that feels dark, dingy, cramped and just generally not a place you want to be in or go to. It's also one of those buildings that is just generally really confusing to navigate. Didn't matter how many times I went through, I still managed to get myself lost. In most modern European cities, trains stations are those buildings that are the gateway to the city, that grand entrance that just says welcome. Gare Centrale is not that building, and to be fairly honest, I have serious doubts that it can ever become that building. I'm not saying that the entire building must go and that's probably unrealistic, but at a bare minimum, it needs a major renovation. My hopes is that with the REM coming to Montreal, there will be space liberated that can be used address some of those issues. The long access ramp right next to railway is one of those horrors that just really needs to get demolished. Losing that massive overhang over Saint Antoine street would probably also help quite a bit. The level currently used as a bus terminus really complicates needlessly vertical travel through the building. If those things can be tackled, I think that Gare Centrale would already look a lot more acceptable to a lot of peoples out there, myself included. Redesigning existing buildings is one of those things that European cities do very well and there is certainly a lot of room to reinvision buildings like Gare Centrale.

[@caligula4446]

People of Montreal should be aware how blessed they are with these brutalist gemstones. The brutalist builds in Montreal are of an excellent quality. A very rare high quality. To dislike the Montreal brutalist structures is based on a lack of knowledge. A lack of education actually. It's so funny... the inhibitants of Montreal dislike brutalism...and when you ask, where would you weant to live in Montreal??? They answer: in Habitat 67... whahahahahhahahahaahhahahahahahahaha... People of Montreal??? Cherish your brutalism heritage!!!

[@nikitamalkov6160]

In general, I can't say that I like brutalism, especially of Eastern and Southern Europe, but Montreal's brutalism is absolutely unique, I love it.

[@TITANN8778]

Brutalist architecture is my favorite i want to build a monstrous building with brutalist design that will create a cold and alien feeling who ever sees it

[@200kolya]

damn imma visit montreal one day

[@kuna967]

So much architorture!

[@TheTreyBlue]

A video on the origins of the many depanneurs around the city could be great

[@PaigeMTL]

I thought about doing a video on the most highly rated ones on Google maps

[@TheTreyBlue]

@@PaigeMTL That sounds like a great idea, finding unique products in each one could make a great premise

[@TagusMan]

Death to brutalism. It is by far the worst thing invented by man in centuries. Brutalist architects should be put on trial for crimes against humanity. If gou start tearing down brutalist buildings, no one would cry or miss it. But concrete monstors don't have to be ugly. The Oriente train station in Lisbon's Expo district is the most attractive concrete structure I've ever seen. Instead of boxey, angular misery, the station consists of curved arches, allows in natural light and is adorned with art and pops with the white trimmings designed by Santiago Callatrava. The Portuguese have such a good sense of space and design, that even brutalism can look sexy in a Portuguese city. Here in Canada though...tear it all down. We need to take lessons from Quebec City and Old Montreal. Old school is the best school. Winter is cold and grey enough as it is in this country. Ugly depressing buildings just makes it worse.

[@PaigeMTL]

Nuclear weapons, fascism and franchised sports were all invented in the last century

[@curtandoscar]

I have a lifelong intense dislike of the cement stuff, having grown up in Boston where the local Victorian library was needlessly demolished and replaced with a cement box. Also, there is the infamous, eternal mistake, Boston City Hall. However, I having been living in Montreal unexpectedly for the past 6 weeks due to an ill family member, and to my great surprise, have developed a crush on the giant, uber-Brutalist Rockhill complex in "my" neighborhood of Cotes des Neiges. Mind you, one shudders to think of the probably several dozen absolutely lovely 1930s small apartment buildings that must have been demolished to wake way for the behemoth. But still. It sits on that hill over there and I sorta somehow like it.

[@GFmanaic]

The problem I have with brutalism is that it feels like an easy way out to pass cheap shit as genius design. I think music is slightly too loud when you are talking.

[@PaigeMTL]

I think I rocked out too much while making this video. The whole thing does have subs if you want.

[@matthewhemmings2464]

Once I had a lot of hate for brutalism, I thought it was concrete monsters. Yet, as I learned about the style I disliked so much, I just looked through its subtlety and ideology. It’s raw, utilitarian and has no disguise, the art is in the forms and architecture designed.

[@louisd.8928]

This comment makes the analogy with abstract art even more on point, because people also wonder how a white canvas with a single black dot in the middle can go for millions.

[@BigAdam2050]

Good stuff, but you wanna knock the music down a notch or two, just you almost get drowned out here and there

[@VivekPatel-ze6jy]

I like underground station brutalism, but imo the grey of concrete above ground is way too similar to an overcast sky, and looks dreary outside of full sun

[@OtakuUpNorth]

There is some pretty cool brutalism in Toronto as well

[@PaigeMTL]

"Get him boys!" Yeah there is, I'm planning to do a few videos in Toronto when the bad thing is over. What's your favorite?

[@ericferguson8849]

@@PaigeMTL Robart's Library is the classic example. My personal favourite would be 222 Jarvis

[@TimFitzGeraldca]

I love our metro. The Olympic stadium has grown on me. I’ll even tolerate that monolith of a Plais de justice. But also, I totally want to demolish the Place Bonaventure and bring some daylight onto the platforms of Central Station.

[@martinplasse174]

the metro is just too damn dark, it's depressing. I see the esthetic appeal but it will never be where I want too start my day on the way to work, or go from point A to point B on a beautiful weekend day.

[@RobsRedHotSpot]

One of the problems with Montreal's love affair with brutalism is that reinforced concrete has actually performed really poorly in the freeze-thaw cycle here, with porous concrete cracking, water infiltrating structural components and general rust and decay. The 1960s Champlain Bridge had to be replaced after only 60 years because of this. Montreal used a lot of poor quality concrete from the 60s to the 80s. The degradation of the facade of Place Bonaventure and the pockmarked finishing on Big Owe (which has been basically white-washed six times to hide cracks in the concrete) are examples. It's a great style aesthetically, but poorly-suited to our climate (compared to, say, Le Corbusier's work in the dry heat of Marseille).

[@PaigeMTL]

I think generally it hasn't been easy to maintain anywhere with precipitation. If it rains, the rebar inside will eventually rust. Much easier to redo exterior clay bricks, stone or other cladding every 100 years.

[@SPAMMAN123456789]

hahah im looking forward to seeing some of these monstrosities.

[@mr51406]

Interesting essay! ⭐️ Good for you for defending Brutalism! It has to be allowed to age properly, and it will if well designed and well made. I liken it to your defense of brick, and it too should NEVER be painted. Bare concrete is lot more interesting than dolled-up, cladded, flat or coloured concrete. One commenter pointed to the art-déco UdeM main building (it was the Louis-Colin garage you were illustrating). But actually that is a good juxtaposition since art-deco is the father of two styles: Brutalism and International (the Mies glass box). I like both, and Montreal has good examples: Place Ville-Marie, Westmount Square and Jolicœur metro... Is that where the REM architects take their inspiration? As you allude to, Brutalism works perfectly in underground places, perhaps International is better for overground? Paradoxically the glass box was unpopular too then but now is back in style. I bet you there will soon be a “neo-brutalism,” everything comes back. Some people like getting their hands slapped... 😆 What one should NOT do is dress-up, doll-up Brutalism to make it more “palatable” to “Stéphane & Natalie” (as I call them, people who shop at the 10/30). So-called “post-modernism” was that: decorate in colourful slabs of granite (not bad) or aluminum (🤔...) or fake stone concrete (yuck!). Example: Édouard-Montpetit, 1001 LaGauchetière, a lot of condos now. If Brutalism is heavy metal, International is electronic music (Pet Shop Boys fan here). But if you dilute Brutalism you get wishy-washy rock like Aerosmith... 😜 You can however make excellent adaptations: Cake’s grunge version of disco standard “I Will Survive” is excellent. I would like to see some more Deconstructivism... The REM could have done that instead? A transit station should make a statement and be prominent.

[@great.933]

Why do i love brutalism why, why do i do

[@scoops2]

I see your point, and I can appreciate why others may like this style, but personally I can't stand all they gray depressing and dirty concrete. My favorite parts of Montreal are always the older stuff like the cathedrals and all of the old port. I also love McGill campus as there is all that added greenery and color. I don't know what you would call it but one of my favorite styles on the island is John Abbott Campus with all of its red roofs and its tower.

[@PaigeMTL]

I don't know what that building is, it's got a lot of different styles going on. I wonder if it's not as old as it looks.

[@wavearts3279]

There's something so beautiful with brutalism, its full of history and just have a great vibe. And it is even better when greatly done like the metro or Habitat 67. You are right about the rem stations, they are elegant, but they don't have that feeling that I get when I go to Bonaventure station.

[@aarontoussaint8364]

By my understanding of brutalism is that it is functional design using cheap bulk materials without cladding. most of the issues with brutalism in the US stem from what is considered a function is pretty much just "won't die of exposure in the near term", whereas brutalism in South America suitably for human habitation is the designed function so brutalism takes an entirely different version than what it takes in the US.

[@RoBoTrOnIc1001001]

really well done video... I don’t like the modern architecture these days lol

[@aubsta1]

I love Montreal and brutalist architecture

[@fredmason960]

What about the road network? The Metropolitan Blvd was all concrete, and was made of the shitty stuff, so that they tore it down and replaced it with the exact same shitty road. The 2/20 girdled Ville St. Pierre like a concrete weightlifter's belt, the perfect juxtapose. And then there was the Turcot Interchange, a world-class airborne parking lot. There is truly not another Canadian city to compare. Lafarge got rich, and left that meteor crater out in the East End, thanks to this master material. I actually lived in Habitat the year after Expo, with my parents. It was like living in a castle, a really drafty castle. I used to walk the dog over to the NFB's Labyrinth, another concrete block, and down the peninsula to the ludicrous stadium, through the snow.

[@Kenny1977-b1j]

Brutalism… designed by people who won’t ever live there?! (Ok, except Expo 67) You’re right, it can work in some municipal settings. The underground sections of the metro are great, it works. Above ground though, many stations are almost laughably bad - either via the entrance of a 70s office tower or a square concrete box. As tourists to montreal we played “which one is the metro station?” game by finding the ugliest building on the street. Rarely failed:) Though many Montreal ugly buildings aren’t brutalist, they’re just brown, square, 70s or 80s bland residential high rise blocks totally out of scale and sympathy with their (low rise, quaintly aged…) surrounds. I get it… they probably provided cheap and quick inner city housing for the times…but surely the architects could’ve been told to try harder. For a city with so much going for it (an island, the river, heritage building, slowish economy mostly spared it the developers wrecking ball, and “it’s Canada”) it made a fair effort over the decades to stuff it up. The answer - Don’t let architects design in winter….whatever that “lack of sunlight” syndrome is, they get it bad!!

[@julienbaril7921]

Really love your videos! Keep up the good work! (Suck it Toronto!)

[@brianlindy3175]

Love brutalism!

[@1Yh8HH]

Université de Montréal is art deco

[@MarquisDeSang]

Brutalism also known as a Quake level.

[@jjdtierney]

The problem with a lot of these buildings is that their concrete and rebar construction structurally deteriorates over time. As permanent and hulking as many brutalist behemoths seem, it's unlikely many if any will stand the true rest of time and be around in even a couple hundred years. It's a terrible waste. We (collectively) need to develop better more sustainable ways to employ concrete in construction. The inventors of the material, the Romans, knew how to do it and instead of structurally reinforcing the concrete into linear slabs used it in domes and arches which proved so durable that many of their own "brutalist" monuments endure to the present day, most famously the Pantheon in Rome with it's huge unreinforced concrete dome which has stood for some two thousand years.

[@philsiarri]

Interesting topic. Boston is another North American brutalist juggernaut IMO.

[@Alex_Plante]

Not all those building are Brutalist. For example, the University of Montreal is Art Deco. I would call the current style that's in fashion Venetian Blindist, with the Grande bibliothèque on Berri being a typical example.

[@PaigeMTL]

Look at that shot again... Lower.... Lower :)

[@Alex_Plante]

@@PaigeMTL You mean the parking garage?

[@PaigeMTL]

@@Alex_Plante yeah, Garage Louis-Collin, it's actually a pretty significant brutalist landmark. If you walk around it, you'll notice lots of small details and touches that explain why it shows up on people's lists even though it's a building doing a pretty un-glamorous job. I thought it contrasted well against the Roger-Gaudry Building because they are two totally different schools of thought on what architecture should be.

[@suhanxli]

Music is way too loud and lyric heavy to pay attention to what you're saying

[@Thunderbuck]

I fucking LOVE Brutalism (at least when it's done well-it isn't always). Clearly one more reason to come visit!

[@Thunderbuck]

Also, Habitat 67 is arguably THE greatest Brutalist building of all time

[@miketava]

I appreciate you looking into this subject material, fascinating stuff, but I'm afraid your sound mixing, especially in the beginning with the metal song makes it such that we can't hear what you are saying very well.

[@aadd74]

Too much background music.

[@terrarium_minded]

Great video. The color contrast in that one subway is artful and would be pleasant to be around, sort of like a playful juxtaposition between stability and friendliness. However, I think your video and appraisal really only extends to Montreal, and probably only a few select buildings at that. The brutalist gov buildings in my city are horrendous. They house tiny windows, narrow hallways, yellow tile underneath buzzing fluorescents. The allusion to heavy metal is spot on. And who wants to work with their coworker blasting heavy metal every day? Who wants to go into a deafening roar to pay a parking ticket? Only a strange, strange minority. Should we sacrifice the souls of dailygoers to the sophisticated notions of "solidity" and "indifference" that art aficionados espouse? My answer is a resounding no. End brutalism.

[@carlborman5165]

Good little doc but damn stop the music

[@ethanwilkinson469]

"World capital of brutalism" Edmonton erasure

[@donkeydik2602]

There is only a few brutalist buildings worth keeping + the metro of course. A lot of it is an ugly depressing mess

[@Daniel-jv1ku]

Yeah, the architects cared. But these buildings are hated by most people, and were ALWAYS hated by most people. So it's not the same thing as demolishing a historic neighbourhood that has only been disliked for a few decades. We should be building what people want, not what matches an architect's dream. If people NEVER WANTED brutalism, destroy it and build something that delights the senses... not depressing concrete buildings.

[@martinplasse174]

its ugly, but it could be rehabilitated if its gets surrounded by more pleasing, less brutal buildings and tall trees.

[@MrZachizzo]

Great video. The montreal metro stations are seriously gorgeous and unique, and I will fight anyone that disagrees.

[@PaigeMTL]

You could fight them in Monk, it looks like it was setup for a cage fight

[@realadrieno]

The biggest issue i have with brutalism is that, far too often, it resembles soviet buildings (aka the most soulless and ugly buildings ever concieved)

[@mcfly7]

They represent more evil than good. There is no joy in those designs. Only darkness and misery.

[@robertruffo2134]

BTW people DID appreciate those old neighborhoods, a top-down government that "knew best" forced their demolition, whereas the general population has NEVER liked modern architecture, not now, not 20 years ago, not when most of it was built. The only people who appreciate it (or pretend to because it is "academically correct") are architects. Stop bullying the rest of us.

[@romanrat5613]

Brutalism works for steel and rivet truss bridges but not much else concrete brutalism is fucking hideous

[@Nostalg1a]

It's ironic a small niche minority likes since Brutalism since it was supposed to serve the majority. It failed in all aspects, it aged poorly due to it's unsustainable and environmentally bad main component, concrete, it raises levels of depression and it's ugly. It is ugly, simply because one cannot look at and say it's beautiful without spitting some wild mental gymnastics to justify it, when a more beautiful, simpler, economic, more in touch with local identity and materials building could have been in it's place.

[@Laeliel99]

So depressing... please let us enjoy life and stop building these T_T just... why

[@danielmpes6163]

Bruh, i deeply hated "brutalism". That i swhy our city is that ugly

[@sundogshower]

It hurts to watch that church spire fall. Where was God that day?!

[@lateve6243]

Probably cashing a cheque from the expropriation.

[@09nkd]

Sorry but I have to disagree. looking at these things makes me wanna die.

[@Loagun]

Great video. Brutalism however is a little more than the mainstream overview given. For anyone that is curious they can look up Buzludzha monument which is the Montreal Olympic Stadiums twin which was erected at the same time in Bulgaria. These monuments and architecture style have a secret history of their own.