Article: Will Cybertruck's brutalism end big tech minimalism design trend?

[ModelAZ]

Via Evannex

As Tesla prepares to begin producing the Cybertruck later this year, some are pointing out how the electric truck’s bold, futuristic design is at odds with the minimalism of most modern tech. And like any design philosophy bringing a unique and new product to the table, the Cybertruck could potentially shift tech’s aesthetic across the industry.​

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The Tesla Cybertruck’s uniform, brutalist aesthetic has been turning heads since it was unveiled in 2019, and a recent op-ed from Elaine Moore in Financial Times suggests that the unique look could be the next design language of big tech. While Apple’s minimalist “lite” aesthetic has set the bar for design in Silicon Valley in the past several years, the Cybertruck may set a new precedent for tech design in the coming years.​

Rest of article -- https://evannex.com/blogs/news/will-teslas-cybertruck-end-big-tech-minimalism

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[Sirfun]

Brutalism is just minimalism with an edge to it!

 

[Gurule92]

Brutalism is just edge with some minimalism to it!

 

[RVAC]

Yeah not sure what the author is going on about, the Cybertruck is very minimalist.

 

[charliemagpie]

In keeping with Tesla's minimalistic advertising and subliminal suggestions, I reckon those colorful wrapped Tesla's we saw in both the Germany and Austin open days were telling us to wrap our cars.

 

[CostcoSamples]

Throwing fancy adjectives around to describe sharp edges instead of rounded ones.

 

[PointHope]

Intuition tells me, CT will also be brutal on the legacy automakers in terms of profit margins.
According to Sandy Munro Tesla has a bunch of side profit margin built into their entire business model.
The show will be very interesting to watch. Ford and VW are going to face some heavy competition.
For electric motor technology, no one is even close to Model 3 motor innovations.
Likely we will see some seriously brutal minimization of the CT systems charging the battery and FSD development.
Ford and VW will likely be caught with their pants down, playing the baloney.

 

[flowerlandfilms]

I'm all for a new design aesthetic. I have always found Apples design, and the products that ape it, to be reminiscent of sterile hospital equipment.

 

[Spartacus]

Funny but I always thot Minimalist when looking at the CT ... far from it when gazing at the PU truck competition?
The only thing that is acceptable to my spartan standard being built today is the Nissan "Z" model sports car lineup. Course I wouldn't own a piece of junk like that but do like to look at them.

 

[Ehninger1212]

Who ever is trying compare the two as opposites has no understanding of what the terms Brutalism and Minimalism mean.

 

[ijoe13]

Brutalist design doesn’t only imply the roundness or sharpness of an edge. It also implies a heavier, more sturdy structure.
Ultimately, phones, tablets and computers will likely evolve further away from this type of concept and more toward the idea of the technology disappearing and the output of the technology being the bigger focus.

 

[Sirfun]

Who ever is trying compare the two as opposites has no understanding of what the terms Brutalism and Minimalism mean.

As an architect, you would know!

I recently went to the Petersen museum and got to spend some time looking over the concept Cybertruck. It's a magnificent example of Brutal Minimalism. Here's a house on the beach near where I live in Oxnard that I call the Cybertruck house. Isn't this brutal minimalism in architecture?

 

[firsttruck]

Brutalist design doesn’t only imply the roundness or sharpness of an edge. It also implies a heavier, more sturdy structure.
Ultimately, phones, tablets and computers will likely evolve further away from this type of concept and more toward the idea of the technology disappearing and the output of the technology being the bigger focus.

Not today it won't.

For past two years I have had trouble finding/buying just plain case ventilation fans. Every fan now comes with billion color LEDs and not a single switch to allow me to turn off this light pollution.

Power supplies. Even cheap M.2 SSD cards now have lights. Arrrrgh.
What if I lose my data simply because of defective lighting circuit that burns the card (or PC).
I am going to be pissed.

 

[Ehninger1212]

As an architect, you would know!

I recently went to the Petersen museum and got to spend some time looking over the concept Cybertruck. It's a magnificent example of Brutal Minimalism. Here's a house on the beach near where I live in Oxnard that I call the Cybertruck house. Isn't this brutal minimalism in architecture?

I would call that house, a modern interpretation of brutalism. But Brutalism in itself is not about shape, form, material or even color. It is purely about celebrating and showcasing the unrefined, brash, raw and "brutal" object after being constructed. Typically these are concrete structures, with no effort to clean up or "finish" the material after to form has been removed. Brutalism style is not regulated to concrete however, but it is most associate with "big heavy" concrete. Therefor many assume brutalism means "big, heavy and audacious".

In cybertruck terms I consider it to be more minimalist. it is still.. from what I have seen.. cleaned up and refined while having the most MINIMAL amount of details and shapes necessary to function. I mean, they have removed the door handles for pete sake, no badges (we dont need no stinkin badges).

If the cybertruck stainless body is just stamped/bent assembled and shipped with absolutely ZERO effort to put a uniform finish on the exterior. Then and ONLY then would I begin to consider it to be Brutalist. (This is in fact how I wish the truck would arrive in my driveway.)

I will also say this is knowledge I have gained through years of studying architecture and design, the subjects could have entire books and dissertations written on them, and they in fact do.

I you like that type of architecture, Paul Rudolph and Moshe Safdie have some of the best examples. Brutalism is really the celebration of imperfection. Un smoothed formwork, un ground welds, allow the building to weather and embrace the aging with the elements. If these dudes were car guys, they would have embraced the "patina" rat rod movement of recent years.

 

[Sirfun]

I would call that house, a modern modern interpretation of brutalism. But Brutalism in itself is not about shape, form, material or even color. It is purely about celebrating and showcasing the unrefined, brash, raw and "brutal" object after being constructed. Typically these are concrete structures, with no effort to clean up or "finish" the material after to form has been removed. Brutalism style is not regulated to concrete however, but it is most associate with "big heavy" concrete. Therefor many assume brutalism means "big, heavy and audacious".

In cybertruck terms I consider it to be more minimalist. it is still.. from what I have seen.. cleaned up and refined while having the most MINIMAL amount of details and shapes necessary to function. I mean, they have removed the door handles for pete sake, no badges (we dont need no stinkin badges).

If the cybertruck stainless body is just stamped/bent assembled and shipped with absolutely ZERO effort to put a uniform finish on the exterior. Then and ONLY then would I begin to consider it to be Brutalist. (This is in fact how I wish the truck would arrive in my driveway.)

I will also say this is knowledge I have gained through years of studying architecture and design, the subjects could have entire books and dissertations written on them, and they in fact do.

I you like that type of architecture, Paul Rudolph and Moshe Safdie have some of the best examples. Brutalism is really the celebration of imperfection. Un smoothed formwork, un ground welds, allow the building to weather and embrace the aging with the elements. If these dudes were car guys, they would have embraced the "patina" rat rod movement of recent years.

Thank you. That was a very good read. I appreciate you taking the time to write such a well-thought-out, and thorough explanation.

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