After decades of marginalization, Brutalism has recently experienced a cultural renaissance, with new attention and appreciation for one of modernity’s most global and contradictory architectural movements. But even if the most influential figures are recognized for their particular genius, the broader canon of architects who adopted or experimented with brutalism remains obscure. The Brutalists (Phaidon, 2023) by Owen Hopkins is an essential codex of the genre, featuring some 250 architects in an A-Z encyclopedia of concrete blocks and utopian ideals.
“When you put these long lists together, you get to 50 very easily, and then it gets much, much harder,” Hopkins told Hyperallergic. “I think the beauty of a project like this is that, although it is supposed to be of general interest, it actually has another role, which is to be useful to academics and the study the architectural history of this period, as it helps broaden the canon.
Listed in alphabetical order by architect, but also listed chronologically at the end of the book, The Brutalists is a definitive tome for fans of the form, as well as those looking to deepen their understanding of the background, contradictions, and contributors to brutalism. Here are some lesser-known brutalist architects, according to Hopkins — again just a sample among dozens of entries.
Högna Sigurðardóttir — Iceland is probably not the place most associated with Brutalism, and Sigurõardóttir also holds the distinction of being one of the only female architects in the Brutalist fold. His residence Bakkaflöt, built in Garõabær, Höfuõbargarsvæõiõ, Iceland in 1968, somehow gives Brutalism a cozy feel, nestled like a bunker in three sheltering mounds of earth.
Masaharu Takasaki — The Kihoku Astronomical Museum, built in Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan in 1995, is perhaps the fanciest Brutalist architecture can be. It looks a bit like a Studio Ghibli creation, with concrete flourishes sticking out at odd angles in all directions.
Otto Glaus — With the Swiss chalet aesthetic that demands harmony with the surrounding mountain, brutalism seems an odd fit. But Glaus’ Konvikt der Kantonsschule in 1969, built in Chur, Grisons, Switzerland, projects the boarding school into a cascade of austere rectangular shapes. Hopkins describes the work as “being both discordant and harmonious in a way peculiar to Brutalism”.
Tao Gofers — Far from being a household name, Dutch-born Gofers worked as a mid-tier architect for the New South Wales Housing Commission, but the Sirius Building in Sydney, South Wales Wales, Australia has become one of Australia’s best-known brutalist structures. , since its construction in 1979.
Giuseppe Perugini – Argentinian by birth, Perugini built Casa Albero (translated as “tree house”) in Fregene, Lazio, Italy, in 1971. The square, concrete outlines of the building are punctuated by rows of windows and suspend a huge room globe, the Palla sphere, with a single portal overlooking the surrounding forest.
Georges Adillon – The Sainte-Marie Lyon school, built in La Verpillière, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France in 1976, takes these rectilinear forms and tilts them on cheeky slopes, with Adilon’s exterior walkways and undulating angles creating an aesthetic Escher-esque.
Aldo Loris Rossi – Hopkins characterizes Rossi (not to be confused with the Italian post-modernist Aldo Rossi) as one of those brutalists “whose journey took them through the emotional intensities of expressionism or the organic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright “. Perhaps that is why Casa del Portuale (1980), in Naples, Campania, Italy looks less like a government building than a dream ship.
Kuldip Sing – Responsible for two of New Delhi’s most notable Brutalist architecture, Singh studied at the School of Planning and Architecture at the Delhi Polytechnic. Although he was an active member of a cohort of architects who capitalized on brutalism in India’s new independence from Britain, Singh’s legacy was apparently overshadowed by bigger names like Charles Correa and Raj Rewal (each also deserving of their own entry in Hopkins’ book).
Clorindo Testa — Testa is responsible for the headquarters of the Bank of London and South America (1966), one of the best-known brutalist buildings in South America, located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The building’s concrete “hood” features keyhole cutouts that telegraph strength and depth, and also protect an interior plaza in a reversal of what would typically have been a street-facing feature.
Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak – Although Grabowska-Hawrylak reportedly hated brutalism, she seems to have come to it for a love of “slick and smooth” finishes, according to Michal Duda, curator of the Museum of Architecture in Wrocław, Poland. The Grunwaldski Square housing complex in Wrocław, Lower Silesia (1975) manages to metabolize great visual complexity from its columns of private balconies with curved lines that almost transform the building facade into a kind of industrial basketry .
These are just a few of the architects who find themselves level with well-known names like Zaha Hadid, Walter Gropius, IM Pei and Louis Kahn. By providing each architect with roughly the same space, Hopkins expands the canonical possibilities of expansive movement.
“There are all these incredible figures, and we now know a lot of their buildings, thanks to this kind of renewed interest in brutalism and its proliferation on social media,” Hopkins said. “Suddenly a number of iconic examples from around the world have entered the visual lexicon, but there are plenty that haven’t been brought to some sort of wider attention. That’s what the book is aiming for. to be corrected, and so I hope it can act as a kind of spur to future interest in brutalism.
The Brutalists: The Best Architects of Brutalism by Owen Hopkins (2023) is published by Phaidon and is available online and in bookstores.
