Title:
Concrete Intentions: Recognizing the Unique Characteristics of Brutalist Architecture at Umass
Author(s):
Schrank
Publication:
Web Session
Volume:
ws_F23_Shrank.pdf
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
DOI:
Date:
10/29/2023
Abstract:
The University of Massachusetts (UMass) system includes several campuses across the state, all of which have their own unique attributes and architectural features. This presentation will focus primarily on UMass Amherst and UMass Dartmouth for their large stock of Brutalist concrete structures constructed in the 1960s and 1970s. These structures were designed by several world-renowned architects as well as locally known Boston-based architects. This focus stems from the speaker’s academic research while a graduate student at UMass Amherst as well as her involvement in the founding and ongoing role of UMass BRUT, a collaborative advocacy group between the two campuses that is now expanding to other campuses within the UMass system. While briefly discussing this effort, this presentation will introduce the buildings on these two campuses and discuss their unique concrete characteristics and how this can affect their thoughtful conservation. This includes acknowledging the different colors, surface textures and angles that were created through unique specifications of material composition and formwork by those who designed and constructed these buildings.