Structural Expressionism

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Structural Expressionism is a style of modernist architecture in which the core structural elements of the building are expressed in the building's appearance. The style has been around since at least the 1960s, but it did not become popular and widespread until the 1980s. Like Brutalism, Structural Expressionist buildings reveal their structure on the outside as well as the inside, but with visual emphasis placed on the internal steel and/or concrete skeletal structure as opposed to exterior concrete walls. The style is sometimes referred to as "high tech" modernism. The style's premier practitioners include the British architect Norman Foster, whose work has since earned him knighthood, and Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, known for his organic, skeleton-like designs.

Buildings designed in this style usually consist of a clear glass facade, with the building's network of support beams exposed behind it. Perhaps the most famous and easily recognized building built in this style is I.M. Pei's Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong. The World Trade Center in New York City, although generally considered to be an International Style building, was technically a Structural Expressionist design due to its load-bearing steel exoskeleton.