BOOK: The Brutalists-Phaidon Publications

Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the bare building materials and structural elements over decorative design. The style commonly makes use of exposed, unpainted concrete or brick, angular geometric shapes and a predominantly monochrome color palette; other materials, such as steel, timber, and glass, are also featured. Descending from the modernist movement, brutalism is said to be a reaction against the nostalgia of architecture in the 1940s.  Derived from the Swedish phrase nybrutalism, the term “new brutalism” was first used by British architects Alison and Peter Smithson for their pioneering approach to design. The style was further popularised in a 1955 essay by architectural critic Reyner Banham, who also associated the movement with the French phrases béton brut (“raw concrete”) and art brut (“raw art”).  Featuring more than 250 historic and contemporary architects (organised alphabetically) along with specially selected examples of their work, the book “The Brutalists” by Phaidon Publicationsincludes international icons alongside those who are less well known or who have for too long been neglected, providing a unique record of this influential global architecture movement. The book includes 350 stunning images of more than 200 iconic Brutalist buildings, alongside fresh and surprising masterworks from 1936 to the present day, creating the ultimate companion to the Brutalist masters.-Dimitris Lempesis

Featured architects include: John Andrews; João Batista Vilanova Artigas; Lina Bo Bardi; Bogdan Bogdanović; Marcel Breuer; Douglas Cardinal; André-Jacques Dunoyer de Segonzac; Bertrand Goldberg; Ernő Goldfinger; Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak; Agustín Hernández Navarro; John M. Johansen; Louis I. Kahn; Denys Lasdun; Le Corbusier; João da Gama Filgueiras Lima; Alberto Linner Díaz; Owen Luder; Paulo Mendes da Rocha; Oscar Niemeyer; William L. Pereira; Affonso Eduardo Reidy; Paul Rudolph; Moshe Safdie; Alison Smithson; Clorindo Testa; Decio Tozzi; and John Carl Warnecke