An architectural style that first appeared in the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Brutalist buildings emphasize “raw” materials, exposed structural elements, and a mostly monochrome color palette over decorative or historical design. The style was popularized in a 1955 essay, The New Brutalism, by architectural historian Reyner Banham. Brutalism spread around the world in the 1960s, most notably becoming the dominant style in the Eastern European Communist countries from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s.