Brutalist architecture has never been widely beloved — in fact, infamous James Bond supervillain Goldfinger was named after a Brutalist architect, Erno Goldfinger.
But a new book celebrates the style, rounding up eye-catching, black-and-white photos of Brutalist buildings around the world.
In "This Brutal World," graphic designer and Brutalism enthusiast Peter Chadwick highlights approximately 300 examples of Brutalist buildings from 60 countries. Some of the structures featured in the book are iconic and well-studied — such as New York City’s Met Breuer museum (originally the Whitney Museum), designed by Marcel Breuer, and the Unite d’ Habitation in Marseille, France, by Le Corbusier — while others are less well-known.
See images from Chadwick’s book below.
Centro de Exposições do Centro Administrativo da Bahia in Bahia, Brazil
The aesthetic, which was most prominent from the 1950s through the 1970s, was despised by more than just Bond author Ian Fleming. Prince Charles once described Portsmoth, England's Brutalist Tricorn shopping center as a “mildewed lump of elephant droppings.” Other critics have remarked that the fortress-like concrete structures seemed cold, totalitarian or just plain ugly.
Salk Institute in La Jolla, California
The term Brutalist comes from the French word for ‘raw,’ which Swiss architect Le Corbusier used to describe his material of choice: raw concrete, or béton brut.
Grand Central Water Tower in Midrand, South Africa
The architectural style expresses a transparent honesty; concrete is left exposed, without anything colorful to cover it. The structural elements that support buildings' functions are also often visible, making it clear from the outside what’s going on within.
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