Suburban Brutalism

Suburban architecture is not, for the most part, very remarkable. But here in Bolingbrook, Oak View Elementary School begs to differ. It looks like a big concrete box, yes; but in my opinion, it is actually a classic example of Brutalism, a modernist style based in raw concrete and pioneered by the architect Le Corbusier in the early twentieth century.

(Hey, there isn’t much else to look at our here, so you’ll have to cut me some slack.)

Here are two examples of Le Corbusier’s work:

Oak View isn’t exactly Corbusier, but it’s got concrete and those simple, brutal lines and muscular feel:

There are four colorful cartoons on each side of the building – perhaps a suburban embellishment on Brutalism, and very appropriate for an elementary school and in that classic, cartoonish, 1970s retro style.

Oak View was originally a school “without walls,” where all classes were taught inside a huge, open space. After a decade or two, they converted it to a conventional, classroom-based layout.

The only other building in Bolingbrook I could plausibly call Suburban Brutalism is Village Hall. Especially its concrete fountain out front:

(The big “50” is for Bolingbrook’s 50th anniversary this year.)

In black and white, you can see the Brutalist influence more clearly:

Village Hall is mostly brick rather than concrete, but its blocky lines are vaguely Brutalist – right?

Whatever you might say about Oak View School and Village Hall, they are much more interesting to look at than the bland design of the dominant architectural forms in our landscape: strip mall, big box store, chain restaurant, subdivision.

Although some subdivision houses can be fun to look at, too. (Eat your heart out, Naperville.)