Concrete Concept

This compelling and in-depth study looks at some of the most inspiring and iconic brutalist buildings, in a quest to find the soul of one of modern architecture’s most misunderstood movements.

No modern architectural style has aroused so much awe and so much ire as Brutalism. This is architecture at its most assertive: compelling, distinctive, sometimes terrifying. But, as Concrete Concept shows, Brutalism can be about love as well as hate. 

This inspiring and informative photographic survey profiles 50 brutalist buildings from around the world. Travelling the globe – from Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation (Marseille, France), to the Former Whitney Museum (New York City, USA) to Preston Bus Station (Preston, UK) – this book covers concrete architecture in its most extraordinary forms, demonstrating how Brutalism has changed our landscapes and infected popular culture.

Author and architecture expert Christopher Beanland writes passionately about how this style came to be, tracing its origins from the modernist art movement, the trauma of World War Two and the need for municipal renewal.

Now in a stylish mini format, this is the perfect tour of Brutalism’s biggest hits. 

“A lively journey around the world’s brutalist buildings” Frieze.com

“A dazzlingly shot whistle-stop of the much-maligned style’s greatest hits … the book showcases confidence, clarity and the historical importance of the movement.” Monocle