What are your thoughts on monstrous concrete buildings? Are they heaven or hell? Let me know in the comments, along with how you fared against my score today!

"Ivry... I wonder if it is a place...", said he with his mouse cursor right on top of said place lol

i got my testicles scanned in that liverpool hospital. cool building

You should do more of there architecture maps they are really cool

9:41 such a painful moment literally the mouse on it

This one deserves a couple more vids - cool architecture, more relaxing pace

About Brutalism in France... Le Corbusier, arguably the the most famous French architect, is also credited as the father of Brutalism. He was already making concrete monoliths even before WW2, He had been experimenting with concrete and how it could change architecture as early as the 1910s.

I love when Brutalist architecture is combined with lots of greenery, there is something nice in that contrast.

For anyone wondering where the building in the thumbnail is (not in the video). Its in Yerevan, Armenia

Kind of disappointed the buildings in the thumbnail didn't come up as I recognised them as a pair of buildings in Yerevan, I thought they were really cool buildings to randomly walk past when I was there last year.

FYI some cities in France were also heavily bombed during WW2 explaining the presence of brutalism. Le Havre for exemple was entirely rebuilt after the war, the whole city is drawn in this type of architecture. Another reason was I think the lack of housing during the 50s 60s and 70s in some urban areas (especially in Paris' region): many buildings (even cities) were built and the architects were given quite some freedom to do what they wished ! But that's not a subject I am really mastering so the explaination might be incomplete !

There's some fantastic brutalist architecture in the Baltics, maybe they'll feature another time.

As a french, when reading the title of the video I wondered if you’d have any other country than France during your game Absolutely every administration building of every city of the country is a concrete monstruosity. To that, you have to add all the medium and big cities hospitals plus of course the suburb projects. Of course, it’s luckily not what you see the most as a visitor. But as an inhabitant, brutalist architecture feels like home.

I loved this! Please do more of this map, I love the obscurity of brutalist architecture, it’s always so interesting, almost like traveling back in time.

You said you hadn't known France to be particularly big purveyors of Brutalist architecture. Well, the term Brutalist actually comes from French. The French word Brut (meaning raw) is applied to this type of concrete: Béton Brut meaning 'raw concrete'. Basically describing the usage and application of concrete that is then left unfinished...as is synonymous with the BRUTalist architecture. I suppose it was taken as a happy coincidence that the word Brut was very similar to the word Brutal (in fact, they are probably of the same etymological stem in Latin/French) - visual brutality that these stark concrete beasts exude. So, maybe the French were big into Brutalism after all. By the way, I like Brutalist architecture, as you said: in small doses. I am a fan of 'mid-century' fashion, architecture and futurism generally and brutalism is a snapshot of the thoughts post-war town planners (by the way, 'Unbuilt' is a great book, about post-war town planning ideas). In my home city of Manchester, like most other British cities, there are plenty of eye-catching, stark, impressive concrete behemoths. Many are under threat, such as the famous 'toast rack' to the south of the University of Manchester and other examples in the former UMIST (North) Campus, Reynolds Building with its unusual zig-zaggy facade - I think it is earmarked to go, due to redevelopment. I say keep the unique and interesting ones, get rid if the concrete has deteriorated to a such an extent that it is a streaky mucky grey mess and cracked to f___.

it’s technically called the willis tower but no one in chicago calls it that

As a fan of architecture, I was really excited to see you play through this map, and as a Chicagoan I was especially excited to see you get Bertrand Goldberg's River City in the first round. Great vid!

The first building shown was the River City Apartments in Chicago, and my uncle had lived there for about a year. If you thought the outside was impressive, look up some pictures of the massive atreum inside. Genuinely one of the most impressive looking apartment buildings I have ever seen. Not to mention the prices really aren't that bad for the location and how modern it is.

I've found brutalist architecture interesting ever since I was young, although I didn't know what it was called then; I just thought it was cool that some buildings look like evil lairs. I understand why people dislike it but it creates unique spaces and atmospheres that will never be recreated again

Tom, this was brilliant. I watch your videos all the time, but have never played Geoguessr myself. I clicked the link, created an account and struggled to follow along. Heap of fun and more please!

Would love more of these!

I might not like brutalist architecture, but I will ALWAYS like a good Geoguessr play along!

Recognised the liverpool one right away. I used to have university lectures in that building! It's just as monstrous (if not worse) in person!

I was lured by the thumbnail as much as I was disappointed not to have it in the game, because I can almost see this twin building from my window.

In french a "rive" means a side, an edge, or a riverbank. So "rives de Paris" litterally means on the side / at the edge of Paris. I also wanted to point out how the french telephone system numbering works, but POWERFULL Tristan already did the job! Like english cities, some french cities were flatten to rubble during WWII, but other brutalist and "grands ensembles" came out of necessity due to rapidly increasing population during the 60s combined with exodus from colonies during decolonization (hundreds of thousands fled Algeria for example). Although a few of these buildings are ...let's say 'iconic' and could be presereved, most are eyesores doomed to be blown off (with some hints of satisfaction when that happen to be honest!) Thanks as always for sharing your GeoGuessing skills!

plz play more of these! Love the chilling vibe of the video!

honestly I could probably watch an hour long video of you doing this. it's so fascinating to me that they built like that

In France, phone numbers land line beginning are : 01 : around Paris 02 : north west like Normandy or Brittany 03: north est (Lille, Strasbourg) 04: south est (Marseille, Lyon) 05: south ouest (Toulouse, Bordeaux) It could help😊

This is Tom at his best! I don’t mind the adventure stuff but watching Tom doing his stuff on GeoGuessr and Geo detective is just brilliant. I could lose hours out of my day watching. Thank you for coming back to it 😍

Great game, Tom! I did pretty well this time with 24,767! Round 1 - When I visited Chicago in 2019 I did the architecture river tour, so I recognized this location immediately, without even turning around to see the Willis tower. Round 2 was tough, but I managed to cinch it by seeing the Ivry, just as you did. But boy, your mouse was hovering literally directly over Ivry-sur-Seine as you were saying "Is Ivry even an real place?" I was screaming at my monitor haha Round 3 - This one was really tough. Spent a good 15 minutes scanning the surroundings of Paris for a big roundabout over a motorway with the right angles, but wasn't able to find it. Wound up guessing the complete other side of Paris. Round 4 - Instantly felt like Southern France to me (I have some family in Marseille) and guessed Montpellier on a whim. Found a spot by an aqueduct that sort of lined up, but sort of didn't, so I assumed it was somewhere else. Guessed anyway and to my surprise got a nifty 4994! Round 5 - Easy for all the same reasons you mention (Thank you, LiangJi!) Keep em coming, would love to play this map again!

Am playing along with this and the fifth round is currently a LOT easier than it was when GeoWizard played it.

Maps with interesting buildings are great! Thanks Tom, looking forward to more!

I really like the second one i don't know why really. Maybe because it's so aggressive with it's sharp, precise angles and grey concrete while it wrestles with the wild green which is slowly overtaking it. Good stuff.

I'd love to see another video on this map, these were awesome!

I’d love more of these! I have a real soft spot for Brutalist architecture even though when done poorly and not maintained it can be awful shabby looking

Literally watching Tom Curser go over the word IVRI about 5 thousand times whilst looking for the word IVRI... SHOUTING AT THE SCREEEEEEN!

They‘re…fascinating. Definitely wouldn’t mind to watch you play some more rounds!

Just some random comments that will go under months later ... Sears equals Willy's tower Chicago (old vs. new name), in the actual footage it says "Royal Hospital Liverpool" right into your face - and I just found out a few days ago how much fun it is to play along, because GeoPeter mentioned you don't need a GeoGuessr-account, thanks 😊. I'm glad you didn't put a time-limit on it, that stresses me out!

14:05 France gave Brutalism it's name, and gave the world Le Corbusier.

I find that first paris sprawling complex very beautiful. The overtaken by nature aesthetic is my favourite. I wish I could explore a post-human extinction city that's been taken back by nature.

17:34 soon to be demolished Liverpool Royal Hospital! Nice new shiny one opened a few weeks ago, seen that monstrosity everyday for the past 3 years at uni! Love the channel Tom!

I love brutalist architecture !!! amazing video

without cheating, this is the first time i was able to beat you! i really love the play along videos

I screamed „there is Ivry there is Ivry“ at my screen like a mad man😅😂

Pretty much agree with your take, Tom. I always wonder if the general view of "Brutalist Architecture" would be different if it had a different name? I realise the name comes from the French for raw, as in "raw concrete", but in English we can't help associate it with "brutality". I'm sure it has an effect on how we view some of these buildings, even before we see them, because we already have the word "brutal" in our minds.

I liked this map - happy to see more!

I am so proud of myself for instantly recognising the first two. Les etoiles in ivry sur seine is so beautiful honestly.

I could go for another one, it was fun and interesting. Great vid as always

14:03 Tom, the well-known modernist architect Le Corbusier was the originator of Brutalism starting in France.

Cool vid, please do more like this! Love Brutalism

Loved the Penny Lane - London Road bit. Amazing work as always 👏🏼

Awesome buildings, very cool to see you play this map and I would love to explore that southern france one, there's so much hidden up there.

Of course we want more videos about brutalism. I am in fact subscribed to the subreddit specialized in that topic. Please do more videos, no matter what they are about. Your voice would stop a war.

Finally signed up after watching many of your videos. My first ever Geoguesser - far from perfect - 21,072 in 32 minutes. Biggest miss was round 4. I was off in Spain. Thank you for this play along!

17:27 “Wow that’s one of the most brutal, shocking pieces of architecture I have ever seen it really is and I live in Birmingham so that really is something” ~ Tom Davies (2023)

The Banque Populaire in France are split into different regions- Rives de Paris is for the Paris region.

Brutalist architecture can look absolutely beautiful! Just look at Nakagin capsule tower, such a shame that it got demolished... beautiful building.

great game Tom! I think thats the first time I ever beat you in a play-along. just followed my gut and got 24,287 :)) to be fair, I was pretty lucky with that montpellier round. it was sort of an insane guess for me haha

I got a massive clue on my round in Liverpool. There was a new fence installed around the building with gigantic Liverpool New Royal Hospital writing over it

I got my broken wrist fixed at the Royal Liverpool hozzie. Such a horrible place to be ill

average brutalist architecture appreciator

Literally live across from the Royal Liverpool Hospital and seeing ur flat on a GeoWizzard vid is rather entertaining🤣

France was bombed a lot during the war. By both camps depending on the advancement of the liberation effort. I grew up in Caen, and it was 97% destroyed. Basically only the church and the castle were left. Many western cities were the same like Le Havre, Brest or Lorient, and are all concrete now

France was very very damaged by WWII when it comes to bombings, several big cities were totally destroyed by the english when trying to chase the nazis. This led to tons of ugly 60's concrete monstrocities as you call them. A few example from the top of my head are : Saint-Nazaire (100% destroyed), Saint Malo (80% destroyed), Calais (95% destroyed), Dunkerke (90% destroyed), Le Havre (82% destroyed), Saint-Lô (77% destroyed) and there are a lot more.

Liverpool has some great ones - check the Liverpool Echo Building and even the Air Ventilation Towers for the Kingsway Tunnel

Loved the way you zeroed in on Chicago, my home town, using the bridges to correctly ascertain your location. You noted the Sears Tower, tallest in the world for many decades, now surpassed. It's name was technically changed to the Willis Tower several years ago, but many locals refuse to adopt the new name, still calling it Sears. The other massive black tower you were looking for is The Hancock. It's quite a bit further north and was obscured by other buildings. One reason they look similar is that they were designed just a few years apart by the same architecture firm, Skidmore Owings & Merrill. (SOM)

I found your channel a while ago while researching OSINT techniques for geolocation. My favourite videos are geodetective you are amazing in those. I am also addicted to these videos too. I would definitely love to see more of this map. Thank you

Love those architecture map ! Please continue

i would love to see more architectural rounds of geogeussr, loved it

Loved this video! We got Geoguessr content (already great), plus I did not know much about brutal architecture, and just watching you react to them was so cool! Thank you

Am i the only one who loves this architechtural style? Every one of those brutalist buildings looked rad!

Wow, I literally managed to find the 2nd France map just by going "okay this is a roundabout exit off a highway with most of the roundabout offcentered from the highway, looks like suburbs/outskirts of Paris judging by climate and trees" and found it within 2 minutes. Easily the craziest luck I've had with a geoguessr map. My cities skylines obsession with highway exits paid off.

"need to find ivry" mouse is over a city with ivry in it, 5 minutes later, "well i give up i'll go up here" moves mouse from over ivry to the other side of the city

Tom, I would love to see attempts at a perfect score in diverse world. Even if it's near impossible, it would be so entertaining to see you try. No moving, no time limit, and we can just enjoy your commentary and detective work!

if you play along now there's an updated image in the 5th round and there's literally text saying 'liverpool hospital' lol

Loved this video, combined two of my passions, geography and architecture! Thanks

Heeeey after years of watching this you finally did a shout out of my hometown (Runcorn) Memorable times.

Thank you for mentioning Coventry! Its not the most pleasant place - but growing up there really sparked my love for brutalist architecture and concrete structures, I'm always in awe of things built in that style as a result.

'I-V-R-Y' is that an area? *hovers mouse on Ivry-Sur-Seine*. I was SCREAMING, TOM.

Love the second building, and I actually think the vines on it are really cool!

Great video, great map, I wouldn't mind more of this!

love it when you play topical music when you're searching

Architect here, your praise of brutalism put a smile to my face. But did you know it traces its roots much further back all the way to the Bauhaus movement and Gropius. This earmarked an incredibly quick and broad development of many of the styles we enjoy and take for granted, almost all of which strove to break the status quo and expand what was not only possible to build, but, more importantly, acceptable! Nerd rant over :)

the pain i felt as you were looking for IVRY with your cursor literally on it

I mean the word brutalism comes from the french "brut" (pure). So it is kind of logical that we have so many brutalistic places there. 😍

On the south of France one, you can see the flag of Occitanie on the 'medival' wall.

“Melun” made me laugh. It’s exactly what the town is called but hearing you say it so bluntly was great. Another classic video, amazing as always!

This is the first time I've beaten you on a play along! I got really lucky clicking Montpellier.

wow very cool, i love brutalist architecture!

Great to see my hometown of Widnes being mentioned! Massive fan keep it up Tom 👍🏻

The brutalist buildings of Chicago are iconic. What was in this video is called River City, but Marina City is even more amazing.

09:41 'give me one minute to look for that' - while keeping his mouse pointed straight at Ivry

I RECOGNIZED THE FIRST ONE FROM YEARS AGO SUCH A COOL BUILDING

So interesting! Would love to see more!

World War 2 France - it was conquered relatively quickly by the Germans (despite being defended by the combined British + French armies), but then the Germans occupied it, and the ALLIES spent the next five years bombing it. France was damaged much more than the UK ever was, with 400,000 buildings destroyed and another 900,000 buildings seriously damaged, and 70,000 people killed - close on double the damage done to the UK. Parts of France then looked like parts of Ukraine today, and needed to be built back almost totally. So yeah, they caught the concrete bug even worse than we did. As a country with generally higher government spending, assisted by Marshall Plan funds, it was also more prone to 'big projects' making a statement, for which a brutal block of concrete was perfect.

Love this idea of doing architect maps, if there are like Roman monuments or historical places that might not be so well known that'd be interesting to see.

11:30 Holy shit France? I saw this and instantly thought "Eastern europe" lol

I remember a stunning building being built in the 1970s as a Secondary (Years 11-12) College in my home state of Tasmania in Australia, the 'grown ups' all talked of it as controversial, radical, to be hated or loved. My brother attended as one of the first student cohorts, and I attended in the mid-1980s. Stunning on the outside, fabulous on the inside - especially the fully internal spiral staircases. It is The Don College in Devonport, a much prized architectural landmark for the city. I now live in Perth, Western Australia and we have a couple of University campuses with some great brutalism - Murdoch and Curtin Universities - and some absolute behemouths at Curtin. I love the architectureal style, it seeped right in to my soul when I was a child.

quite a funny thing to see your former home in a geoguesser video, loved Ivry, this building and neighborhood had a real countrytown feel in the megapole of Paris

You saying that the fourth round reminded you of a library in Birmingham made me laugh, the first thing I said when I saw it was 'oh look, it's every university library ever'. I don't know what it is with libraries in the UK being built in that particular style, but every university I've ever visited, including ones like Edinburgh, St Andrews etc. has a tiered brutalist library like that