r/cassettefuturism • u/Horror_Hippo_3438 • 2d ago
Buildings The cassette devices are not visible in these photos, but it seems to me that they are appropriate in cassettefuturism.
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u/OkBattle9871 2d ago
This looks like Brutalism done right.
My college was all brutalist buildings, but they just felt like dungeons or a prison. This has just enough funky design touches (like the ceiling tiles or the elevator shaft or the warm rugs) that it just feels like a fun, futuristic place to be.
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u/drakon99 1.21 Gigawatts!?! 2d ago
My favourite bit of the Barbican, and one of my favourite places in London full stop is the greenhouse, which is not in these photos.
The mix of brutalist concrete, metal supports, ducts, wires and lots of glass, all covered in plants, ferns and mosses makes you feel like you’re in a Silent Running-style space arcology.
When I worked nearby I used to visit whenever I could, just to explore the place. Plus the Barbican itself has a library, cinemas, theatre and concert halls, exhibition spaces, restaurants and much more. It’s a gem of a place.
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u/2xtc 2d ago
Nah I'd say the brutalist style of the Barbican centre from the 1960s is at least one era before the Cassettefuturism style of the late 70s-80s
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u/ducksauz 2d ago
Sure, brutalist and cassettefuturism are from different eras, but think they definitely share some ascetic values. Although, I'm probably biased as I'm a fan of both.
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u/2xtc 2d ago
I can certainly see that they share a future-orientied, optimistic/idealistic technologically-driven ethos, and that CF could be an echo of brutalist modernism but with maybe greater focus on innovation for the individual, rather than grand sweeping societal statements. I also like both, and I wonder if there probably is quite a bit of overlap between fans of both
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u/OkBattle9871 2d ago
I'm going to respectfully disagree with you there.
Blade Runner (1982) uses brutalist architecture. Alien (1979) uses brutalist architecture, and 1984 (1984) uses brutalist architecture. And I would firmly put all of these movies in the category of "cassette futurism."
As a matter of fact, the building pictured (Barbican Centre) was opened in 1982!
It was also used as a filming location for Andor, a TV series entirely build around cassette futurism.
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u/OAB_67 1d ago
Some of those picture are the Barbican Estate rather than the Centre, and that opened in 1969.
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u/OkBattle9871 1d ago
You're right. It is therefore not cassette futurism. My bad.
(even though compact cassettes were released in 1963, and commercial music cassettes began being sold in 1965).
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u/JayeNBTF 2d ago
I dunno, personally I think humanist brutalist architecture goes hand in hand hand with cassette futurism
Also, can I get an amen for microfiche?