Brutalist architecture in Technology?

Brutalist Architecture was a famous style in the 20th century and its life was short. But is it still alive in the field of technology?

Poe Hall at NC State University

Poe Hall at NC State University

As much as I am a technology geek, I also have a great interest in Architecture, History and Psychology. During a random YouTube watching session I stumbled upon a video explaining the "Brutalist Architecture". It was developed in the 1950s right after the world war. When the war ended, a lot of soldiers returned to universities because of the various government incentives. However, the universities in the US did not have such infrastructure to accommodate the influx of students. Brutalist design was on the rise during that period and it was cheap and easy to construct and also modern at the time. So there came a boom of these buildings in all major US Universities.

But what is this style?

"If modernism is about architecture being honest, Brutalist design is about architecture being brutally honest," Geddes Ulinskas, principal of Geddes Ulinskas Architects, adds. "Forms are as simple as can be and materials are stripped to be as bare and raw as possible."

Simply put, embrace the raw materials and imperfections of the process. Buildings look like concrete slabs put together and I honestly think it's ugly. I even found one in my campus at NC State (Poe Hall).

One interesting fact is that this style did in fact creep into technology design in the 1990s. Remember all those translucent plastic devices which look cheap but cost a fortune? Try searching for "Apple iBook". It was all about embracing the tech inside these devices and making them feel more raw. And sure enough, this style died after a few years giving way to the metal and glass unibody designs we see now.

So the brutalist style is gone for good. Right?

Nothing Phone

Source: CNN

Actually, there is one company which embraces this design to the core in 2023. It's called "Nothing". A brand founded by ex OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei produces smartphones and earbuds which have a transparent body and showcase the internal components very clearly. Judging by history, you would guess that it looks bad, right? It does not. The company's design team has put in effort to not only hide the unnecessary clutter but to actually make the insides look beautiful.

I find it very interesting that Architectural design crept into technology design and in such a way that a person who hates the building design can actually love their phone's design. Even though they are based on the same idea.