Justice Building and Montana State Library
Montana State Capitol Campus Historic District
The 1982 Justice Building and Montana State Library, designed by Page-Werner and Partners of Great Falls, was the last building constructed under the ambitious 1972 Capitol Campus Master Plan. Designed to house the Supreme Court, Attorney General’s office, and the State Library, it is a rare Montana example of the Brutalist style. The style takes its name from the French “béton brut,” or raw concrete, Brutalism’s predominant material. Key elements of Brutalism are reflected here in the monolithic expanses of buff brick, bands of recessed windows, gravity-defying overhangs, and angular towers. Devoid of ornamentation, architects relied on the contrast of solids, voids, and shadows to add interest. Functionally, Brutalism gained favor across the world in the 1960s as an economical answer to much-needed public buildings. Critics, however, denounced the spare, fortress-like style as cold and inhuman. The building was renamed the Mazurek Building in 2014 to honor three-term state senator and former Attorney General Joseph Mazurek. It remains one of Montana’s best examples of Brutalism, a style that did not take hold in the state.
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