Functional Brutalism: A Lesson in Function over Form
I see more Cybertrucks on the road today than I did only six months ago. The number of cybertrucks will increase in the upcoming months. Sales have been growing since the initial launch in late 2023. By the end of 2024, production had reached 1,300 units per week. The Cybertruck is becoming a familiar sight on our toads. The Tesla Cybertruck represented over 50% of the U.S. electric truck market and outperformed the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T. The success of those numbers is impressive, but this truck is the ugliest piece of new technology I have ever seen.
The Tesla Cybertruck prioritizes functionality over form. It is an assault on aesthetics and humanity, with a harsh, single-minded focus on function. This prioritization of function makes this vehicle look like the cold, utilitarian designs of Eastern European architecture during the Cold War when state-owned companies made cars. These vehicles were basic, affordable, and utilitarian, but they were still far behind those manufactured in Western Europe and the United States.
By brutalism, I mean a movement focused on function over comfort and artistic embellishments. The aesthetic is harsh and deliberately unrefined. This design is usually found in institutions of law, housing for the poor, and communist countries. The vehicles manufactured by the former Germany are a perfect example of form over function.
The Cybertruck has all the undesirable aspects of those old ugly vehicles from the former East Germany. Still, it is equipped with the latest technology that vehicles have to offer, and it is not affordable. The design is a lazy attempt to take shortcuts in the engineering process. It will not look out of place in a low-budget science fiction movie from the early 1970s, which was supposed to look cool then, but only brings chuckles in modern times because of how far off it was from the actual vehicles of the times it represented.
But here it is: a big, box-like, angular monstrosity. I wondered why this design was considered a match for the technology it carries. For its creators, it represents faux autocracy. It is a throwback, a representation of a state of mind that looks back at the unchecked power of political leaders. They prefer the economic opportunities capitalism provides but still hold onto ideas of one-party power.
Did I go too far with all that? Maybe. But this Cybertruck is too ugly to be non-purposed. One of my most unengaged students could have developed a better design without training.
I grew up in an environment dotted with brutalist architecture. Housing projects that felt cold and oppressive were dotted across the Bronx and Detroit in my younger years. These buildings throw comfort away. Only the bare necessities were available. There are no artistic embellishments at all. They are a box to put humans in.
These projects' aesthetics are not much different than prisons; places built not just starkly but deliberately designed to be oppressive and dehumanizing. The Cybertruck is not uncomfortable. The inside has luxurious items that are useful and impressive. The truck is in an embryonic stage, and Tesla is selling it while they are still figuring out how to keep it ugly and safe.
Cybertrucks get a high score on the ugly. Still, as for safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety do not list Cybertruck’s official crash test ratings. Meanwhile, three teens were killed in California, and a fourth was burned due to faulty lithium-ion batteries. There are numerous safety incidents and issues with this vehicle. It is still a work in progress.
This design makes a statement. We cannot pretend it is not purposeful. Tesla should consider changing this awful design and respecting the humans who have to look at this monstrosity while on their way to work in the morning. Tesla should move away from functionary brutalism and fantasize about being tough guys and design and build something that reminds us that despite modern technology, we are still human—at least for now.
