One of the earliest reactions to Brutalist architecture began in the middle of the 20th century (the 50s being the widely acknowledged ‘decade zero’ for postmodernism) in the form of metaphoric architecture, which – as you might expect given the name – developed structures inspired by non-architectural forms.

These architectural simulacra (copies without originals) looked to animals as the inspiration for buildings (zoomorphic architecture) as well as merging construction materials with the natural environment to create biomorphic architecture.

This latter example opens the door to the wider context of architectural phenomenology, which manipulates architectural components to create an impact on the human senses related to our wider philosophical understanding of our place in the world.