The Deleted Scenes - Were the Beds Like the Walls?
This is a hotel in France, just outside Paris: It used to look like this (I still remember seeing those old Holiday Inn signs here and there in my childhood): But this building has a secret. It has always been a hotel, and it has not been expanded. But it differs dramatically in one way from its original appearance. At least, I’m pretty sure it does. I was not able to find an actual vintage photograph of it, only illustrations. There is a mildly Twitter-famous image showing the building’s before and after, but I could not find any reference to this project on the internet that didn’t reproduce just that image. Here’s the old: And here’s the old and new, from an interesting Twitter thread in semi-defense of brutalism: Even for those who dislike Brutalism, what replaces it often has nothing of the aesthetic boldness.
Architecture tells the story of a place, and the erasure of Brutalism is the removal of an important chapter of social, political, economic, and cultural history. Here’s a Facebook page (in Spanish) where this building is being discussed. Me, I’m conflicted. The old version is cooler; the new one is typical, bland chain architecture. But brutalism does give me a feeling of subconscious dread. Not conscious, because I sort of like it! But I’m unable to like it fully. I think it’s okay as art, but I’m not so sure about it as architecture, which is to say public art you cannot take down or reserve in a museum. Still, it’s almost certainly the case that many of us will miss it when it’s gone. I just hope the beds weren’t like the old walls. Related Reading: What Do You Think You’re Looking At? #24 Thank you for reading! Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help support this newsletter. You’ll get a weekly subscribers-only post, plus full access to the archive: over 500 posts and growing. And you’ll help ensure more material like this! You're currently a free subscriber to The Deleted Scenes. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
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