Idea for April 2024: eco-brutalism

I was introduced to this tantalising idea by a student who’s planning to build a hotel in this style by the sea in Brazil. At its simplest, it seems to be raw concrete softened by luxuriant plans. There’s a paradox: one thing concrete isn’t is eco. And like all new things, it’s not new - an early example is the Habitat housing designed by architect Moshe Safdie for the Montréal Expo of 1967. But it does provoke thought: how can architecture combine plain honest construction with sustainability, and maybe become regenerative?

Photo of Habitat Montréal by philippe collard on Unsplash