Historian Christine Madrid French (Website) will give a free talk about the history of Brutalist all-concrete downtown branch of the Orlando Public Library as part of its 50th birthday celebration Saturday August 20th 4pm-5pm at the downtown branch (101 E. Central Blvd).
The building was designed by John Johansen in 1966 and contains a 230,000 sq ft 1986 addition by local architect Nils Schweitzer.
The library is one of Florida’s foremost examples of Brutalism. Brutalist architecture is a movement in architecture that flourished from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, descending from the modernist architectural movement of the early 20th century. The term originates from the French word for "raw" in the term used by Le Corbusier to describe his choice of material béton brut (raw concrete).[1][2] British architectural critic Reyner Banham adapted the term into "brutalism" (originally "New Brutalism") to identify the emerging style. (Source: Wikipedia)