It’s not easy being a Brute
Paul Johnston
01.12.09
Paul Johnston explains why many believe the destruction of 10 Murray Street will be a tragic blow to the legacy of Australia’s modernist pioneers.
Stylistic attributes are never the best way to understand modern architecture. In Tasmania, where architectural influences are filtered by isolation and mixed with the rich context of landscape, modern architecture of the 1960s took on a rawness that expressed a cultural assurance and monumentality that has not been evident since. However, the label ‘brutalism’
is now used as a means of derision in the public sphere, to the detriment of architecture as a whole.
The proposal to demolish the State Offices at 10 Murray Street in Hobart recalls the long debate over the future of Council House in Perth, a battle that is now considered a benchmark in the defence of modern Australian architecture. The similarities are surprising, and this raises questions as to whether we have been able to engender any appreciation at all of modernism as cultural heritage. …
Read the article here: http://australiandesignreview.com/response/14678-It-s-not-easy-being-a-Brute
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