Editing Brutalist architecture (section)

== Reception ==
[[File:Queen Elizabeth Flats 5 - Demolition.jpg|thumb|The [[Hutchesontown C|Queen Elizabeth Square flats]] (1962) in Glasgow were demolished in 1993.]]

A 2014 article in ''[[The Economist]]'' noted its unpopularity with the public, observing that a campaign to demolish a building will usually be directed against a brutalist one.<ref name="economist">{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2014/08/29/nasty-brutish-and-tall|newspaper=The Economist|title=Nasty, brutish and tall – Architecture|date=2014-08-29|access-date=2019-08-13}}</ref> According to [[Simon Jenkins]], "Few styles in history can have been met with so many pleas from its users to see it destroyed."<ref name="jenkins"/> In 2005, the British TV programme ''[[Demolition (TV series)|Demolition]]'' ran a public vote to select twelve buildings that ought to be demolished, and eight of those selected were brutalist buildings.<ref name="jenkins">{{Cite book|title=A Short History of British Architecture|last=Jenkins|first=Simon|author-link=Simon Jenkins|publisher=Viking|year=2024|location=London|pages=217–8}}</ref>

One argument is that this criticism exists in part because concrete façades do not age well in damp, cloudy [[Oceanic climate|maritime climates]] such as those of northwestern Europe and [[New England]]. In these climates, the concrete becomes streaked with water stains and sometimes with [[moss]] and [[lichen]], and rust stains from the [[rebar|steel reinforcing bars]].<ref>{{cite web|title=CIP 25 – Corrosion of Steel in Concrete|url=https://www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/25p.pdf|website=nrmca|publisher=National Ready Mixed Concrete Association|access-date=7 May 2017|archive-date=7 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407025516/https://www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/25p.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Critics of the style find it unappealing due to its "cold" appearance, projecting an atmosphere of [[totalitarianism]], as well as the association of the buildings with [[urban decay]] due to materials weathering poorly in certain climates and the surfaces being prone to vandalism by graffiti. Despite this, the style is appreciated by others, and preservation efforts are taking place in the United Kingdom.<ref name="British Brutalism" /><ref>Winston, Anna: [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/18/five-architectural-treasures-we-must-save-uk-heritage-war-historic-england Five architectural treasures we must save from the UK's heritage war.] ''The Guardian'', 18 June 2015.</ref>