Early Google, Twitter, Facebook also, use archive to take a look at how simple and purely functional they were vs. the bloated mess they are now. In fact, the whole web was that way in those days. Made by engineers for engineers.
I think you mean. Current Reddit, IMHO, is a UI dumpster fire.
It would be one thing to say that this sort of thing—i.e., taking it to its (brutal) extreme—is overkill and that that's what you find unappealing about it. To call it "the opposite of brutalism", on the other hand, is silly.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brutalist_archite...
When done right brutalist building are in my mind the most relaxing and comfortable. Sadly it's not something we really build anymore, and certainly not as regular homes.
Brutalist buildings are generally very unpleasant to visit.
Your contention is an artifact of superimposing your taste onto everyone else. Good brutalist buildings are captivating forms based on the altruistic, if often problematic and shortsighted ideologies of modernism. They're striking, unusual, and completely unique. I completely understand why some people consider them hideous, but asserting people only like them because of the cool name is complete garbage.
While the style is polarizing, and there are obviously examples of shitty brutalism out there, I'd say it often accomplished its goals. In my experience, well-designed brutalist buildings are easy to navigate, have large open spaces, have lots of little nooks and crannies to foster human interaction, and have really beautiful forms.
Old images of the Umass Dartmouth (then Southeastern Massachusetts University) library:
https://sdg-migration-met.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/upload...
https://sdg-migration-met.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/upload...
https://scontent-bos5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/58602929_10...
In its modern form:
https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/fs/7913213...
(though the architect really should have done more to accommodate laptops in that space!)
This quine is rather the opposite of brutalism. Every single page element adds purely decorative :before and :after elements and monospace font not optimal for paragraph text that hinder its function just to reference an aesthetic from a bygone era. Adding decoration to a functional object to make it "brutalist" is conceptually kind of ridiculous. HN is far more brutalist than that page. Its structure is clear, functional, and largely unembellished.