J. Whyte Photography

Calgary has a number of brutalist buildings. In fact, the city came of age at a time when brutalist architecture was popular, and so we have religious buildings, education buildings and many office structures spread around the city.  One of the acknowledged brutalist landmarks is Nelco Square.  Nelco Square was completed in 1979 in the community of Franklin. According to Heritage Calgary , Nelco Square is considered "a  superb example of a late Brutalist-style office building in Calgary."   Designed like many brutalist buildings, Nelco Square has a multi-story building plan with the higher levels wider than the lower ground level floor. Nelco Square also has "symmetrical fenestration separated by pronounced vertical window fins at the top storey and decorative concrete panels with embossed rectangular motifs" while the "lower recessed two storeys have exaggerated pilasters and minimalist ribbon windows."  (Source, Heritage Calgary) Discovering the  Mystery...

  Brutalist architecture is a fascinating thing. Perhaps no other style of architecture captures the attention of people generally, particularly those outside the architectural profession – regular people like me.  And often the attention is not positive.  In many ways, brutalist architecture pushes itself into the consciousness because it so clearly typifies the gap between western elites and the majority of regular people. Indeed, brutalist architecture reflects the eternal project of the elites - the quest for positive social change and progressive ideological action. That was the point of brutalist design. But ultimately, the result turned out to be cold concrete, authoritarian forms, the esthetics of the prison.  How could it be otherwise? So as these buildings age, the issue of renovation has become a public issue. What do we do with these buildings? Do we demolish them as many people would like or do we renovate these structures and give them new lives? And if...

  Like many North American cities that grew rapidly after World War 2, Calgary had a building boom that was not untouched by brutalist architecture.   If the idea of brutalist architecture is new for you, brutalism was a type of architecture that developed in the UK during the 1950s. Architects typically used exposed concrete and brick, or a combination of the two materials, in a manner that emphasized utility over decoration, but often with very interesting geometric designs. The term brutalism does not originate or take its inspiration from the English word ‘brutal’ but comes from the French phrase beton brut.   Perhaps the most well know brutalist building remaining in Calgary is the former Calgary Board of Education building in the city centre.   It is believed that the Education Centre Building was inspired by Boston’s brutalist City Hall. While the Calgary building is much smaller, the resemblance is certainly there. The Stevenson Raines Barrett Hutton ...