The Brutalist Revolution Part 2 - Brutalism and the Transformed City

Dr. Otto Saumarez Smith explores how architects and planners of Britain’s 1960’s “Brutalist” generation imaged bold new urban futures, from multi-level cities with vast megastructures to radical attempts to make the car a central part of city life. It looks at projects like the Barbican and Hook New Town, along with influential plans and reports that shaped city centers in Newcastle, Liverpool, and Blackburn. Driven by post-war optimism and faith in progress, these ideas promised a new kind of city. The reality, however, was often controversial, leaving behind concrete visions that still divide opinion today.