Opposite Upcycle Aesthetic – Brutalism

My upcycle project adheres to the “Modern Rustic Charm” aesthetic, which is characterized by the use of rustic, natural materials in conjunction with various modern design hints. This makes it somewhat difficult to find a clear antithesis, as the aesthetic itself consists of elements that oppose each other. While strong arguments can be made for futuristic, technology-centered, or gothic aesthetics to be the antithesis, I believe that it can be argued that the opposing aesthetic to modern rustic charm is brutalism.

[1] CU Boulder’s Engineering Center is a familiar example of Brutalist architecture.

Modern rustic charm uses rustic and natural elements combined with warm lighting to create a cozy, comforting atmosphere. Brutalist architecture is notorious for highlighting the use of raw concrete, brick, and steel whilst being unwelcoming, cold, and dystopian. 

My current upcycling project is a ski rack that showcases the graphics of the skis. My project uses refinished barnwood as a backing board and a vintage scale head to position the skis.  If redone with the brutalist aesthetic, it would need to highlight the use of man-made materials, and utilize harsh lines. This means that the scale head would likely be ditched in favor of a more industrial material.

[2] The modern rustic charm ski rack in its current state.

If I were to redesign my upcycle project with a brutalist influence, I would replace the barnwood board with a thin pour of unfinished concrete. I would make the form out of ODB in an effort to transfer some of the texture, and I would use metal wire inside as a pseudo-rebar to help maintain some integrity. This would be fastened directly to a wooden french cleat for mounting. 

To hold the skis, I would use two u-shaped rebar stakes, passing through the concrete pad. To fasten them, I could weld them to a piece of steel bar stock and fasten that between the french cleat and the concrete pad. I would use small pieces of clear vinyl tubing to protect the edges of the skis. As a last element, I might include some variation of LED backlighting between the wall and the concrete pad. 

Below is chatGPT’s attempt at generating an image of my proposed redesign. While it didn’t capture my idea for the size or functional aspect of the design, I believe it did capture the aesthetic I was looking for.

[3] AI Generated image of a backlit brutalist ski rack.

Images:

[1] https://www.colorado.edu/even/about-us/map-and-directions/engineering-center

[3] Image generated using ChatGPT.com