Just a few corrections and notes: - The Smithsons didn’t coin the term “New Brutalism” - Hans Asplund did in 1949 - My pronounciation of names is probably horribly wrong (Especially Le Corbusier) Further viewing: Polygon has an excellent video on brutalism in Control: ruclips.net/video/7n7ylXPueYE/видео.html An actual architect talks about the architecture of Night City: ruclips.net/video/IklZS20rJoI/видео.html
The actual city in Cyberpunk is criminally underappreciated. The distinct and organic looks of the different districts adds an amazingly realistic touch. Even the homeless encampments and the corrugated iron shacks by the riverside look based on genuine examples.
Agreed, it a shame though that we are only getting one dlc for this map. I think they could make a few more dlc’s so we could get more out of the world they created.
@@Huss_D This game was lovingly made and has amazing details. If people hadn't gone apeshit complaining about it I think we would have gotten more love in the post release. If I was on this team I'd feel super under appreciated and honestly I'd feel salty again the "fan base" and any follow up work would be hard to be motivated into doing. People shat on this game so much it makes me sick. "Overhyped", maybe. A bad game, no fucking way. It's a great game.
@@milesdysonsphere752 I played it for the first time after the 1.52 patch, and to be honest I didn’t love it, but I did like it, despite the issues I had with it crashing a lot. I agree with you though, it is not a bad game at all, it was just way too over hyped, no game could live up to that amount of hype. I loved the world, and I’m looking forward to playing the dlc. Hopefully the dlc does really well so they have to make another one, but it looks like they’re moving on to the next game after they release it.
@@milesdysonsphere752 Maybe the devs feel underappreciated but more likely the decision came from the management. They saw the backlash from the overhype, they knew the team struggled to create what they wanted using their current engine (RedEngine 4), so they decided to reduce the expansion count from 2 to 1, cut their losses, and start developing the next Cyberpunk game using the new engine (Unreal Engine 5). Although I'm sad we lost 1 expansion to 2077, if this means we get to get the sequel with the new and better UE5 earlier than otherwise, I'm fine with sacrificing one expansion made using the struggling RE4 for that. I just hope that the sequel is good enough to make the sacrifice worth it. And I hope everyone don't overhype the sequel. Both their marketing team and the content creators that contributed to the overhype of 2077. And I hope they release the sequel only on platforms that can handle the demand so they can actually develop everything they planned and not struggle developing workarounds/compromises for weaker/underpowered consoles like PS4 and XBOne for 2077.
This game has insane architectural detail. Whenever I play the game I just end up looking up at these massive buildings with my jaw open. It's truely breathtaking
I'd argue that the painted-over megabuilding and similar which are otherwise Brutalist add yet another layer - If Brutalism in the game symbolizes failure, the painted over sections show how the world *deals* with failure: Add a thin coating over the top to make it appear to be something closer to the ideal, without dealing with the underlying root cause. In fact they continue to build megabuildings on the same plans, and continue to paint over them - the causes are never addressed, and the veneer is accepted as a solution.
I knew the designers of the game were inspired by burtalism but really didn't stick around Pacifica to see actual burtalist architecture was in the game. Great video!
Great video. I studied art history and architectural history and this games design blew me away. I took hundreds of screenshots of this game. And the story/plot was outstanding as well.
I love the way you dissected, and conveyed this. Brilliant history lesson as well. I've always known about brutalist architecture, but I never really knew what it signified. Of course there was a meaning to all this, and you clarified this exceptionally well.
Wow, amazing video. I've put around 50 hours in Night City wondering how a team could put together a space so dense, detailed and interesting, and you've been able to give me so much perspective on the different styles and how they merge. You just earned a new sub! Hope you keep growing
This is a really well-researched and reasoned analysis, especially with the political context of Brutalism. The production quality easily made me think this was a much larger channel. I'm definitely keeping my eye here to see more
Cyberpunk is a beautiful game with an amazing soundtrack. The team must have sunk most of their time into the visuals and audio and left the rest as an afterthought. I just wish the AI worked better, enemies were smarter, and there were more random encounters with more ways to take advantage of your unique attributes and abilities.
Thank you for covering this game's architecture ! I think it is still the most impressive city in any video game. The video was very well put together, I wish it was longer haha. I can't wait to watch more videos from you. You deserve WAY MORE subscribers !
Amazing ! I watched your video and felt like watching National Geographic or The History channel. It's a very educational and wonderfully suggestive. Your other videos are authentic too.
Night City is very fun to look at. If anyone is intetested in more examples of Brutalism, look up Quake Brutalism Jam. It's a map pack for OG Quake that centers brutalism and concrete as the central theme.
Los Angeles really does have a lot of brutalist architecture, especially in its government buildings such as LACounty hospitals, courts, clinics, even libraries. I can remember these giant concrete structures towering over me and feeling some sense of importance emanating from them as I looked up at them from a child's point of view
New cyberpunk moving away from pure brutalism was becuase when the genre was developing the failure and decline of the American capitalist system was seen as almost inevitable. So any portrayal of the future was going to be one involving desperation or squalor. Be it from a challenge from the USSR or a rising Japan. (This is why Japanese corporations play such a big role in it usually). When both economic systems suffered spectacular failures around the same time period, the idea that the steel-and-glass look of a traditional American city started to creep back into it, in addition to the brutalist almost Eastern European concrete apartment blocks. An impoverished west needing to adopt socialist-style housing and nationalization just wasn’t plausible anymore. Cyberpunk 2077 is a great example of the genre as it is today, not as it was in the 1970s. Deus ex is another good example. Massive communal apartment buildings at the time were seen as the way of the future, a new age of equitable city design. Now indeed they are seen as symbols of failure. (In former Warsaw Pact nations living in one of these old buildings with a carpet on the wall is seen as old fashioned, something your grandparents or parents do, and younger people want European or American style modern living spaces)
Might have been interesting to mention that CP is developed by a polish studio, poland having been part of the soviet block wich is known for its dystopian brutalist architecture
Going to come out and say that all Brutalist architects have never met or seen a human and know nothing about how we work as a species, imagine being stuck renting in a brutalist building since it's the cheapest thing in Marseille that still stands since it's protected due to being "first" at being trash housing.
There is a good chanve this choise is also influenced by the fact that the developers are East European and this reflects the architecture they see every day
Might be an unpopular take but Night City is what will make Cyberpunk 2077 outlast many other open world games that will be released after it. People will come back to it because out of many failures that Cyberpunk 2077 had, Night City isn't one of them.
Commenting late (binging Edgerunner has brought me back to 2077 and my youtube algorithm reflects that). I think what needs to be considered is that CD Projeckt Red are from Poland a former communist state. Brutalist communist architecture is very common there and is probably a great indicator of the failure of communism and a reminder of the dehumanizing conditions that people lived under communist rule. While 2077 shows a hyper (crony) capitalist dystopia the inspiration for getting that dystopic feel is for the devs to take the dystopic atmosphere their parent's faced under communism (and some of the older members may have seen in their childhoods) and turn it capitalist by plastering adverts over it.
So, it's almost like Night City is a giant monument celebrating the victory of capitalism over socialism. Too bad there isn't some humility mixed in there as well.
@@3005Creator911 Yep. It's a bit of a hassle keeping the movement consistent. There are mods you can use to remove some photomode restrictions and to ensure more consistent camera movement but I didn't bother using them for this video.
Brutalism is Cyberpuk! Brutalism is brutal like Cyberpunk. Brutalism is concrete like cyberpunk. Brutlalism is big cold unhuman things ruling over tiny squishy Humans. Brutalism is the faliure of a promissed futur, like Cyberpunk. Brutalism is the architecture of Cyberpunk.
Not to be too critical but your voice sounds like your talking quietly as if not to disturb someone in the next room. It's super annoying. Also get a pop filter and use less EQ on the low end. Everybody's voice sounds better with more bass EQ until it doesn't. And everybody goes too far with that when they start off. I honestly can barely stand to listen to your voice as it is in this video. But it doesn't have to be this way though, see what you can do to fix these issues.
Hi Chris. Thank you very much for the feedback. I'll make the necessary changes if I see comments expressing similar concerns. It's great to know what I can improve upon so I really do appreciate you taking the time to point out what doesn't work well for you.
Just a few corrections and notes:
- The Smithsons didn’t coin the term “New Brutalism” - Hans Asplund did in 1949
- My pronounciation of names is probably horribly wrong (Especially Le Corbusier)
Further viewing:
Polygon has an excellent video on brutalism in Control:
ruclips.net/video/7n7ylXPueYE/видео.html
An actual architect talks about the architecture of Night City:
ruclips.net/video/IklZS20rJoI/видео.html
Dosen't your point of contrast (Blade Runner) also feature just as much, if not more brutalist architecture? LAPD and wallace buildings for example...
The actual city in Cyberpunk is criminally underappreciated. The distinct and organic looks of the different districts adds an amazingly realistic touch. Even the homeless encampments and the corrugated iron shacks by the riverside look based on genuine examples.
Agreed, it a shame though that we are only getting one dlc for this map. I think they could make a few more dlc’s so we could get more out of the world they created.
@@Huss_D This game was lovingly made and has amazing details. If people hadn't gone apeshit complaining about it I think we would have gotten more love in the post release. If I was on this team I'd feel super under appreciated and honestly I'd feel salty again the "fan base" and any follow up work would be hard to be motivated into doing. People shat on this game so much it makes me sick. "Overhyped", maybe. A bad game, no fucking way. It's a great game.
@@milesdysonsphere752 I played it for the first time after the 1.52 patch, and to be honest I didn’t love it, but I did like it, despite the issues I had with it crashing a lot.
I agree with you though, it is not a bad game at all, it was just way too over hyped, no game could live up to that amount of hype.
I loved the world, and I’m looking forward to playing the dlc. Hopefully the dlc does really well so they have to make another one, but it looks like they’re moving on to the next game after they release it.
@@milesdysonsphere752 Maybe the devs feel underappreciated but more likely the decision came from the management.
They saw the backlash from the overhype, they knew the team struggled to create what they wanted using their current engine (RedEngine 4), so they decided to reduce the expansion count from 2 to 1, cut their losses, and start developing the next Cyberpunk game using the new engine (Unreal Engine 5).
Although I'm sad we lost 1 expansion to 2077, if this means we get to get the sequel with the new and better UE5 earlier than otherwise, I'm fine with sacrificing one expansion made using the struggling RE4 for that. I just hope that the sequel is good enough to make the sacrifice worth it.
And I hope everyone don't overhype the sequel. Both their marketing team and the content creators that contributed to the overhype of 2077. And I hope they release the sequel only on platforms that can handle the demand so they can actually develop everything they planned and not struggle developing workarounds/compromises for weaker/underpowered consoles like PS4 and XBOne for 2077.
It’s a masterpiece city (so unique and the Japanese style architecture is amazing)
This game has insane architectural detail. Whenever I play the game I just end up looking up at these massive buildings with my jaw open. It's truely breathtaking
Yeah it really is unlike any other video game at the moment.
Dude when I saw the architecture of cyberpunk 2077, I absolutely fell in love with it.
I'd argue that the painted-over megabuilding and similar which are otherwise Brutalist add yet another layer - If Brutalism in the game symbolizes failure, the painted over sections show how the world *deals* with failure: Add a thin coating over the top to make it appear to be something closer to the ideal, without dealing with the underlying root cause. In fact they continue to build megabuildings on the same plans, and continue to paint over them - the causes are never addressed, and the veneer is accepted as a solution.
That's a great point
I knew the designers of the game were inspired by burtalism but really didn't stick around Pacifica to see actual burtalist architecture was in the game. Great video!
Thank you so much!
Great video. I studied art history and architectural history and this games design blew me away.
I took hundreds of screenshots of this game.
And the story/plot was outstanding as well.
Thank you so much. Yeah I also have a giant folder of screenshots from the game 😅
This makes me want to play Cyberpunk again and I have 400 hours in it.
Oh boy i have no idea how this video is so underrated. Thanks for such an amazing video! Imma subscribe
Thank you so much for your kind words ❤️
Same 😁
@@kalankaboom Thank you! 🙌
@@Worldview_ thank you for the amazing content! I'm going to run a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign soon and this was incredibly inspiring 🤙🏽👌🏽🌸
I know nothing about architecture but I enjoy this video! This is so underrated and deserves more likes and views!
Thank you so much! Glad you liked the video
I love the way you dissected, and conveyed this. Brilliant history lesson as well. I've always known about brutalist architecture, but I never really knew what it signified. Of course there was a meaning to all this, and you clarified this exceptionally well.
Thank you very much! Glad you appreciated the video.
Wow, amazing video. I've put around 50 hours in Night City wondering how a team could put together a space so dense, detailed and interesting, and you've been able to give me so much perspective on the different styles and how they merge. You just earned a new sub! Hope you keep growing
Thank you so much! Very happy you liked it.
The conclusion's editing, narrating and music gave me goosebumps.
This is a really well-researched and reasoned analysis, especially with the political context of Brutalism. The production quality easily made me think this was a much larger channel. I'm definitely keeping my eye here to see more
Can't ask for higher praise. Thank you so much!
Cyberpunk is a beautiful game with an amazing soundtrack. The team must have sunk most of their time into the visuals and audio and left the rest as an afterthought. I just wish the AI worked better, enemies were smarter, and there were more random encounters with more ways to take advantage of your unique attributes and abilities.
It is without a doubt not a perfect game. But, as you mentioned, there is still a bunch to appreciate about it
Such high quality videos and only 93 subs? Get this guy more subs!!!!
🧡
Thank you for covering this game's architecture ! I think it is still the most impressive city in any video game.
The video was very well put together, I wish it was longer haha. I can't wait to watch more videos from you. You deserve WAY MORE subscribers !
How this excellent video only got such a small number of views??
Glad you like the video
Amazing ! I watched your video and felt like watching National Geographic or The History channel.
It's a very educational and wonderfully suggestive.
Your other videos are authentic too.
Thank you very much for the compliments
This is an awesome video! Thanks!
Thank you very much!
Night City is very fun to look at. If anyone is intetested in more examples of Brutalism, look up Quake Brutalism Jam. It's a map pack for OG Quake that centers brutalism and concrete as the central theme.
Fantastic and underrated video
Thank you so much! Happy you like it.
I really appreciate the breakdown of this real world architectural style as seen through the lens of this game. Well done and thank you!
Thank you! Glad you liked it.
Omfg, literally my favorite topic of all time - exploring the architecture (especially brutalism) in games.
Los Angeles really does have a lot of brutalist architecture, especially in its government buildings such as LACounty hospitals, courts, clinics, even libraries. I can remember these giant concrete structures towering over me and feeling some sense of importance emanating from them as I looked up at them from a child's point of view
I mean cdpr is based in Poland. Soviet Brutalist architecture is pretty common there.
New cyberpunk moving away from pure brutalism was becuase when the genre was developing the failure and decline of the American capitalist system was seen as almost inevitable. So any portrayal of the future was going to be one involving desperation or squalor. Be it from a challenge from the USSR or a rising Japan. (This is why Japanese corporations play such a big role in it usually).
When both economic systems suffered spectacular failures around the same time period, the idea that the steel-and-glass look of a traditional American city started to creep back into it, in addition to the brutalist almost Eastern European concrete apartment blocks. An impoverished west needing to adopt socialist-style housing and nationalization just wasn’t plausible anymore.
Cyberpunk 2077 is a great example of the genre as it is today, not as it was in the 1970s. Deus ex is another good example. Massive communal apartment buildings at the time were seen as the way of the future, a new age of equitable city design. Now indeed they are seen as symbols of failure. (In former Warsaw Pact nations living in one of these old buildings with a carpet on the wall is seen as old fashioned, something your grandparents or parents do, and younger people want European or American style modern living spaces)
Night City is so hauntingly beautiful that it makes me actually wish I lived in a dystopia. Oh wait...
Well done! These shots were great and you absolutely nailed it!
Tysm, gave up on my minecraft cyberpunk city project, might try again in the next update.
Great video. You truly are an underrated channel.
Glad you think so. And I'm happy you liked the video.
Beautiful and insightful video! This was great!!
Thank you very much! Always nice to hear that people enjoy my videos 🙂
That was a great watch
Keep it up
Thank you! More is on the way 🙌
So well done. I learned so much. Thank you
Thank you very much for watching and for your kind words.
Great video
Thank you :)
a very well-made video
I just couldn't get into the bright sunny Night City so modded it to rain a lot more often. Brute weather. lol
Might have been interesting to mention that CP is developed by a polish studio, poland having been part of the soviet block wich is known for its dystopian brutalist architecture
Going to come out and say that all Brutalist architects have never met or seen a human and know nothing about how we work as a species, imagine being stuck renting in a brutalist building since it's the cheapest thing in Marseille that still stands since it's protected due to being "first" at being trash housing.
Awesome video!
Thank you so much!
Permacrete is the name for material in Night City.
There is a good chanve this choise is also influenced by the fact that the developers are East European and this reflects the architecture they see every day
Might be an unpopular take but Night City is what will make Cyberpunk 2077 outlast many other open world games that will be released after it. People will come back to it because out of many failures that Cyberpunk 2077 had, Night City isn't one of them.
Yeah Night City was great from the beginning
Commenting late (binging Edgerunner has brought me back to 2077 and my youtube algorithm reflects that). I think what needs to be considered is that CD Projeckt Red are from Poland a former communist state. Brutalist communist architecture is very common there and is probably a great indicator of the failure of communism and a reminder of the dehumanizing conditions that people lived under communist rule. While 2077 shows a hyper (crony) capitalist dystopia the inspiration for getting that dystopic feel is for the devs to take the dystopic atmosphere their parent's faced under communism (and some of the older members may have seen in their childhoods) and turn it capitalist by plastering adverts over it.
However poor the state the game was in at launch its impossible to deny how beautiful the games environment is.
Can you do a video on Cyberpunk 2077 teaser trailer from 2013 architecture?
Brutalist structures with fancy paint...
Neo-brutalism mayhaps?
It's metabolist architecture not brutalist. Brutalism comes from the French term béton brut "raw concrete"
So, it's almost like Night City is a giant monument celebrating the victory of capitalism over socialism. Too bad there isn't some humility mixed in there as well.
cyberpunk feel more like judge dread
Cuz it is built different
u n d e r r a t e d
can you tell please what mode did you use to create these camera moves?
I used the in-game photomode
@@Worldview_ oh... so, I guess you move camera with gamepad?
@@3005Creator911 Yep. It's a bit of a hassle keeping the movement consistent. There are mods you can use to remove some photomode restrictions and to ensure more consistent camera movement but I didn't bother using them for this video.
@@Worldview_ ok, thank you
Настоящий брутализм -- советский брутализм.
Brutalism is Cyberpuk! Brutalism is brutal like Cyberpunk. Brutalism is concrete like cyberpunk. Brutlalism is big cold unhuman things ruling over tiny squishy Humans. Brutalism is the faliure of a promissed futur, like Cyberpunk. Brutalism is the architecture of Cyberpunk.
ok so im not crazy. it actualy was brutalism
Oh, I always thought Cyberpunk felt different because DLSS performance mode made it look like seeing the game from inside an aquarium
TL;DW it's *aggressively* European
My friend, the welfare state never failed it was dismantled.
Not to be too critical but your voice sounds like your talking quietly as if not to disturb someone in the next room. It's super annoying. Also get a pop filter and use less EQ on the low end. Everybody's voice sounds better with more bass EQ until it doesn't. And everybody goes too far with that when they start off. I honestly can barely stand to listen to your voice as it is in this video. But it doesn't have to be this way though, see what you can do to fix these issues.
Hi Chris. Thank you very much for the feedback. I'll make the necessary changes if I see comments expressing similar concerns. It's great to know what I can improve upon so I really do appreciate you taking the time to point out what doesn't work well for you.
too bad it's an unplayable piece of sh*t.