Symposium

Architecture in the Raw:

The Past, Present and Future of Brutalism

Co-hosted by Thomas Jefferson University, Center for the Preservation of Modernism & Docomomo-phl

Friday, February 27, 2026 • 12pm - 6pm

Location

Thomas Jefferson University, East Falls Campus

Design, Engineering and Commerce (DEC) Forum

4201 Henry Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19144

Overview

$40 for full Symposium/Reception

$50 for Symposium and Tour of Architecture and Design Center (limited availability)

Free to Students, but you must register

$20 Zoom Attendance

As brutalist architecture is under threat, it remains crucial to study the mid-20th Century architectural form for understanding societal ideals that represent a raw honesty, functionality, and post-war optimism through its use of exposed concrete and bold forms. This material honesty is most visual in the use of raw materials, especially beton brut (raw concrete) and exposed building services, making the structure and construction part of the aesthetic, rather than hidden.

Brutalist buildings evoke strong reactions — as we continue to see today with plans to tear down a number of historic buildings in Washington. The shear mass and durability of these structures automatically lead to discussions about preservation and repurposing as well as how these powerful forms continue to influence design and shape our urban experiences.

This symposium will take a look at the original intent of brutalist architecture, how we can preserve it and what the future of the form might be. We have gathered an illustrious group of experts and practitioners to focus on the role brutalism has and can play in the urban landscape.

Most Kindly Sponsored by:

Program Agenda

Noon – tour of the Architecture and Design Center at Jefferson University

David Zaveloff, Architectural Historian, Richard Grubb & Associates

$10 charge limited number 20 people

1:00 – Welcome

Suzanne Singletary, Director, Center for the Preservation of Modernism, Thomas Jefferson University &

Dan Macey, President, Docomomo Philadelphia Chapter

1:15-2:00 Keynote: Brutal TRuths: Architecture’s Last Hopeful Forms

Aaron Betsky, Architecture Critic, Author and Visiting Professor, University of Pennsylvania

2:00-2:45 – Brutalism, Corbusier and Color

Barbara Klinkhammer, Dean, College of Architecture and the Built Environment, Thomas Jefferson University: UNESCO Co-Chair Smart, Healthy and Learning Cities

Break  – 2:45-3:00

3:00-3:45 Concrete Architecture on Campus: Brutalism and the Expansion of the American Higher Education System

Emma Connolly, Program Specialist, New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office

3:45-4:30  Case Study, Marcel Hotel, New Haven, CT 

Bruce Becker, Hotel Marcel Developer/Architect, Becker + Becker Associates

4:30-5:15 – Pondering Utopia at Pepper Middle School, Philadelphia

Michael Bixler, Editorial Director, Hidden City Philadelphia

5:15 – 5:45 –What is the future of Brutalism? a panel discussion

Moderated by Liz Waytkus, Executive Director, Docomomo US

Panelists:

Aaron Betsky, Keynote, Author, Critic, Professor

Paul Steinke, Executive Director, Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia

Bill Whitaker, Director and Curator, University of Pennsylvania’s Architectural Archives

5:45-6:30 Reception