Boston Athenæum

September 8, 2016 at the Boston Athenæum. Often problematically labeled as “Brutalist,” the concrete architecture that transformed Boston during the 1960s and 1970s was conceived with ambitious social ideals by some of the world’s most influential designers. Join author Mark Pasnik in conversation with historian Keith Morgan to examine the contentious and ambitious history of “Brutalist” architecture in Boston. At a moment when concrete buildings across the nation are in danger of demolition, the panelists will survey an earlier period of architectural history and consider its legacies—both troubled and inspired. This event is inspired by the book, Heroic: Concrete Architecture and the New Boston, which tells the story of a city, a material, and a movement, and how these intersected in the post-war era to make Boston an epicenter of concrete architecture worldwide.