Online Class Notes (Ally)

5 Questions about English

Vocabulary

perpetual：永恒的; 永久的; 没完没了的; 不间断的; 持续的; 长久的; 一再反复的; 无尽无休的; 终身的

paraphrase： reword in easier words

brackets： （）

satisfactory： 令人满意的; 够好的; 可以的， B work
ie. You did satisfactory work today.

tongue twister/brain twister: 绕口令/脑筋急转弯

conceited: 自负的; 骄傲自大的

Grammar

the 1960s
in 1960

Brutalism

Recently, there is a debate on a red brick building which costed a famer 1.32 million in Chinese social media. The key argument is not only about how ugly and costly the red brick building is, but also that the function is unable to satisfy rural life demands.

Can beauty and function coexist in a building? The answer in the years of 1950 to 1970 might be a “no”.

Brutalism architecture began/started after the Second World War. In that period, urbanization and production recovery made brutalism buildings flourish(v)/In that period, with urbanization and production recovery, brutalism buildings flourished/In that post WWII period of urbanization and production recovery, brutalism buildings flourished. Brutalist architects applied a whole range of concrete textures with massive, monolithic, and ‘blocky’ appearance. It’s relatively simple material, low price, rapid completion, and more office space fully accommodated the needs of the growing workforce. A sense of permanence and monumentality made brutalism become the first choice of the working class and government agency./Communicating a sense of permanence and monumentality, brutalism became the first choice of the working class and government agency.

The term “Brutalism” comes from a British architecture critic Reyner Banham. Banham was inspired by the beauty of beton brut — French for raw concrete. The first brutalism building could be traced by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, in particular his 1952 Unité d’habitation in the southern part of Marseille, France.