I know I am in the minority here, but I actually like brutalist architecture between 1965 and 1985. Not the cookie-cutter ghettos, I mean artful architecture, like Habitat 67 or the Robarts Library, or the Wellcome headquarters.
I too like brutalist architecture for its sincerity. Big Cities are inherently ugly. Brutalist architecture just don't pretend they are pretty.
Big cities are not inherently ugly. What makes a big city ugly to you?
Big cities can be ugly, but don't have to be. Less car centric, more green cities can be very pretty. Any brutalist architecture in those is terrible, making the place look worse on purpose.
I like it too. I especially like it for big government agencies, like FBI and post-office. Gives the impression of "we are not here to f*k around".
I too enjoy the deep paternalistic emotions evoked by government buildings.
There is a definite survivorship bias in buildings. The 'good ones' tend to survive and the horrendous ones torn down. The major problem with brutalist is that it often sacrificed comfort of those using the building. Who wants a building near an outside wall but having no windows?
Likely, but probably more for the full bellies and access to medical care than the aesthetics, which truly have become stultifying.