UMassBRUT Wins National Award for Campaign to Reshape Perceptions of Brutalist Architecture

UMassBRUT, a multidisciplinary campaign created to reshape perceptions of Brutalist architecture at UMass Amherst and UMass Dartmouth, has earned a 2022 Modernism in America Award from Docomomo US.

In announcing the award, Docomomo noted, “The UMassBRUT campaign stood out in the Inventory/Survey category for its all-hands-on-deck approach to rallying large educational institutions around better stewardship of their modern resources. Following a two-day symposium, they have made great strides in educating and warming their community towards Brutalism.”

Jury member Angel Ayón described the effort as “exemplary and responsible stewardship of a massive educational site. We know the rhetoric they are dealing with – Brutalism is ugly – but they leaned into it and made a case for why it is important. It elevates Brutalism to a new height where it can be recognized for its contribution to 20th century architecture.”

Founded in the United States in 1995, Docomomo US (which stands for Documentation and Conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the Modern Movement) is a non-profit organization that shares its members’ knowledge of and enthusiasm for modern architecture and design. It seeks to preserve modern architecture, landscapes and design through principled advocacy, collaboration and celebration.

Now in its ninth year, the Modernism in America Awards, led by jury chair Henry Moss, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and a distinguished panel of experts, showcases projects that represent the best of modern preservation, documentation, and advocacy work.

The Inventory/Survey Award of Excellence was given to UMassBRUT, a multidisciplinary campaign led by a group of faculty, students, staff and administrators in Amherst and Dartmouth, for their work to reshape perceptions of Brutalist architecture. By spreading awareness among the campuses and local communities about the value and history of the iconic buildings that fill these environments, the campaign is building support for their conservation and renovation. In the 1960s and 1970s, luminaries such as Kevin Roche, Marcel Breuer, Edward Durrell Stone, Paul Rudolph and Hugh Stubbins created forms that expressed the progressive idealism of the era, while serving the needs of the public universities.

Docomomo noted that, “Faced with widespread misunderstanding of these buildings, UMassBRUT undertook a variety of initiatives to promote awareness and affection for the schools’ Brutalist legacies, including creating a website and Instagram page, hosting virtual and in-person tours and lectures, organizing a two-day, sold out symposium event, and creating both a printed and virtual guide to the Amherst campus. UMassBRUT is working to ensure that these structures will be fully appreciated by generations of students and community members to come.”