A singular movement in the history of architecture, Brutalism has charmed architects the world over, not least in Italy. Two transalpine photographers have chosen to capture these massive, unusual silhouettes in “Brutalist Italy”, published by FUEL.
“Brutalist Italy” compiles a selection of over a hundred Italian Brutalist buildings, photographed in 146 images by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego.
It took the two architectural photographers five years, during which they covered more than 20,000 km in all regions of the peninsula. In fact, almost the entire country was equipped with such buildings, from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Among the “stars” of the book are the Casa del Portuale in Naples, the Jesi cemetery, the Mount Grisa Sanctuary in Trieste and the Genoa washing machines. The book brings together astonishing examples of Italian Brutalist architecture, characterised by the use of exposed reinforced concrete and clear, well-defined structural elements to create a unique aesthetic.
“Their desire was to emphasise that concrete could be of not just one, but many eras. That it could represent both the present (or the future) and the past,” explains Adrian Forty, Professor Emeritus of Architectural History at the Bartlett School of Architecture – University College London, in the book’s introduction. The academic also points out that “Italian architects have set themselves apart from their counterparts around the world. During the 20th century, concrete was generally treated exclusively as a forward-looking material – it signified an era that had not yet arrived, and the fact that it also had a past was vigorously denied. But circumstances in Italy made architects anxious to represent its past as well as its future.”
Brutalist Italy de Roberto Conte et Stefano Perego
Éditions Fuel, août 2023
35,00 €
visuels : https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/qmjn4nfpe3v6ft2zlxlpb/h?rlkey=0486b9yrtqty03fy3md2qu1oz&dl=0