ABSTRACT
Architectural histories of twentieth-century buildings are noticeable for the glaring omission of any analysis of the building site, with investigation invariably halting at the site entrance and so effectively excluding both labour and social history. This chapter intends to breach this artificial boundary surrounding modern architecture through an examination of the site processes involved in the construction of the South Bank Arts Complex, in particular the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery. The term New Brutalism, popularised by Reyner Banham, was conceived to describe an architectural position, epitomized by the Smithsons, in radical opposition to the white functionalism of the modern movement and came into use in the early 1950s in relation to work by the Smithsons and Team 10. The Smithson's and Team 10's rejection of the orthodoxies of the Modern Movement and its traditional city planning components such as squares and avenues informed the design for the South Bank Arts Complex.
