Perth Concert Hall, Brutalist Wedding Cake

One of the most rewarding aspects of traveling is learning something new about the places you see. In this spirit of adventure, I found myself doing just that last week. I was surprised to see that the city of Perth in Western Australia has many remarkable examples of brutalist architecture. I had never heard of this before, so now I want to have to tell you about it. Among its pristine collection of 20th-century concrete behemoths is the Perth Concert Hall, the subject for this post. The building has been hailed by none other than the author Neil Gaiman himself as being like a great big wedding cake.

The Perth Concert Hall

While the building is fantastic and compelling in form, the story and facts of the building are less important. The project was first imagined in the 1960s, but construction would not start until 1971. It was opened on Australia Day in 1973, with prime minister Gough Whitlam in attendance. The project cost the government A$3.2 million, equivalent to A$31.2 million today.

A Perth-based firm, Howlett and Bailey Architects, is responsible for the architecture. They collaborated with Sir Harold Marshall on the acoustics for the concert hall. Marshall used computer modeling to make sure the experience for each seat was satisfactory. Thanks to his efforts, the hall has been praised as being one of the best acoustic concert venues in Australia. It can hold 1,729 seats, making it the eighth largest in Australia. The Sydney Opera House holds the mantel for having the largest concert hall in Australia at 2,679 seats.

In an obituary for the architect, Vale Jeffrey Howlett, Architecture AU wrote of his design, “its solid opaque interior, giant projecting roof, and use of white off-form concrete, forms a counterpoint to the transparent filigree of Council House.” The Council Housing being another nearby brutalist government building designed by the firm. It’s a beautiful building which I foolishly did not document, but will share a link to it here.

Thoughts on the Building

Here’s what I like about the building: I like the style. But then that’s not really a surprise. The concrete lintels which hold up the roof evoke a childish joy for me. The building feels like a great big toy experiment which now has to be taken seriously. It is dripping with humanity, best described by the wood panel imprints visible on the exterior and interior. But it also evokes a great sense of respect and sensibility with the perfectly mounted windows and excellent interior. Red carpet goes so well with exposed concrete.

Here’s what I did not like about the building: I found walking to the entrance unbearable. To get to the entrance, you must walk through a sizable unshaded pavilion suffering in the Australian heat. It evokes a Miesian vernacular which is not appropriate in such a climate. While the building’s formal symmetry is complemented by the space, no building should be so precious as to avoid developing functional space around it. I’m not advocating for commercialization, I’m hoping for public space, with benches and shading. It is primed to be converted into a tasteful and functional public space. Something less hostile.

Neighboring buildings to the concert hall, complimentary of the concert style.

Brutalism in Perth

While the Perth Concert Hall is what I documented most carefully, the city contains many other brutalist gems, including East Perth Train Station, Curtin University campus, and the Art Gallery of Western Australia in downtown Perth. Oddly enough, the Art Gallery WA recently made an exhibition on the very subject of Brutalism, which I missed by a day. Damn.

Robert Cook, curator of the Art Gallery of WA, spoke about the history of brutalism in Perth with RAC, explaining that, “in the ’70s there was the mining boom. There was all this money around but how was it going to be used? So [the building boom] became about Perth growing up and being a fresh, bright place… You look at some of the structures the WA Public Works Department built then and yes, they’re functional, but they’re not just facilities. They were also beautifully composed and balanced.”

Discussing the exhibition, writer Riva-Jean Lander on Pelican Magazine spoke well on why I think the architectural movement is still relevant today, writing that, “brutalist structures feel retro-futuristic: they walk the line between old, run down, miserable spaces, and projections designed for a future reality.” They somehow command the respect of the wealthy without buying into the costume of luxury. It’s a hero story for the middle class.

The interior hall, with brilliant red seats and concert highlights.

The Need to Preserve

As with everything enjoyable and pretty, there is, of course, a dark sinking dread that pairs with it. It’s a pair that goes as well together like fine wine and cheese. Brutalist facilities in Perth, and around the world, are facing mounting threats of demolition. They are often situated on valuable real estate, and developers are feeling their own internal pressure to build more high-end condominiums. “There needs to be more exposure to the importance of these buildings. In Sydney and Melbourne, you constantly hear they want to rip down brutalist buildings, but we have fantastic gems here in Perth. I think we need to consider keeping them,” said Dr. Annette Condello of Curtin University’s School of Design to RAC.

Demolition is no longer just a cultural tragedy. It is an environmental catastrophe. As Oliver Wainwright articulated in The Guardian, we need to stop the cycle of demolishing buildings in our cities. Retrofitting old buildings is far more environmentally friendly than rebuilding an efficient modern building. There is a fallacy that we can create new technology to save ourselves from global warming, but the most environmentally friendly buildings in the world are the ones that have already been built. So we should keep what we have.

The Concert Hall is beautiful. Brutalism can be beautiful. Perth, please don’t demolish it!

Golden Mile Complex, a Singaporean building which blends together brutalism and metabolism

Other Brutalist Buildings

I never intended this, but one of the themes of this blog has been Brutalism. If you like it, check out more! I’ve covered regional examples of brutalism in Singapore, including the now-demolished Pearl Bank, IM Pei’s OCBC Centre, the Golden Mile Complex, and the Golden Mile Tower, as well as the Barbican in London.

The concrete lintels holding up the structure’s roof

Conclusion

If you love brutalism and find yourself heading to Perth, I highly recommend checking out the Perth Concert Hall website linked here. Basically, give yourself an excuse to end up inside. Then head over to the WA Art Gallery, which has free admission to their exceptional collection of Western Australian and European art. The atrium there is a masterpiece, and the exhibition space is well laid out.

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to Neil Gaiman, as it was his sold-out talk that brought me into the building and gave me the quote for this article’s title, as well as to the illustrator, Jess, who drew Mr. Wednesday from American Gods for me. It was a total chance encounter which kind of freaked us both out. I mean, imagine if you were in accounting and when you sat down at a cafe a stranger asked if you would do some light accounting for the stranger’s literary hero? And then imagine being stranger seeing this other person do something incredible from a small task. There was genuine shock when I saw this. Anyways, check her work out!

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