I just realized how much Brutalist architecture is seeping in Washington DC

watched the Joseph Watson video recently, eh?

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Those are some ugly arse buildings

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It's raw and bland concrete everywhere.

But honestly the very nature of brutalism fits the FBI building. It's ominous, dark, gloomy and a complete eyesore. It fits the nature and personality of the FBI very well.

it's by far the best thing i've ever seen him done

like, by a mile

That video changed how I thought about architecture. It’s something you don’t consciously notice until it’s pointed out to you, and then you realize what a large subconscious influence it had on you in the first place.

The TED talk he references throughout the video is also worth the watch.

I absolutely hate the idea of brutalist architecture and that concrete is beautiful etc.

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My school is designed like a prison?

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When I was in HS in Memphis the physically closet rival HS literally looked like a prison. No windows at all on ground floor. Staircase at corners of the buildings had tall narrow slit windows, almost like a medieval castle archer window thing. The apparent office on the 3rd floor in the middle of the building only had the narrow slit horizontal windows like prisons. And it had a 8' chain link fence with 3 strands of razor wire surrounding the campus.

That was socioeconomic parallel to where I attended too, not an inner city Memphis place. 40 years ago thru today Prison Architecture for inner city Memphis would just be preparation for those kids futures and be understandable. Not suburban Memphis back then though, that was kids with potential, outside of rap and gangbanging.

It's funny because most of the new private development going up in DC is all glass curtainwall and colored spandrel glass. Really good looking stuff

But yeah those buildings are ugly as shite. The FBI building has been in the works to be demolished and relocated to a DC suburb for a decade now. I think they're still power fighting over who's suburb gets it (NOVA or shitty Maryland)

Anyone who has spent any amount of time walking through DC can describe the dread one feels when you find yourself on one of those brutalist federal blocks. The mere idea of lingering in those areas feels abhorrent, and everyone moves on, heads down, as quickly as possible.