Brutalist Italy
Concrete architecture from the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea
Published on 7. September 2023
Book
Hardback
200 pages
978-1-7398878-3-4 (ISBN)
Description
Containing over 140 exclusive photographs - ranging from private homes to football stadia - across every region of the country, Brutalist Italy is the first publication to focus entirely on this subject.
Best books of 2023 (Architecture and Design) - Financial Times
'Brutalist Italian architecture enthusiasts and concrete completists will be spoilt for choice by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego's pictorial tour.' - Wallpaper*
What makes Italian Brutalist buildings different to their counterparts in other countries? Containing over 140 exclusive photographs - ranging from private homes to churches and cemeteries via football stadia - across every region of the country, Brutalist Italy is the first publication to focus entirely on this subject.
Architectural photographers Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego (authors of Soviet Asia) have spent the past five years travelling over 20,000 kilometres documenting the monumental concrete structures of their native country.
Brutalism - with its minimalist aesthetic, favouring raw materials and structural elements over decorative design - has a complex relationship with Italian history. After World War II, Italian architects were keen to distance themselves from fascism, without rejecting the architectural modernism that had flourished during that era. They developed a form of contemporary architecture that engaged with traditional methods and materials, drawing on uncontaminated historical references. This plurality of pasts assimilated into new constructions is a recurring feature of the country's Brutalist buildings, imparting to them a unique identity.
From the imposing social housing of Le Vele di Scampia to the celestial Our Lady of Tears Sanctuary, Syracuse - Brutalist Italy collects the most compelling examples of this extraordinary architecture for the first time in a single volume.
The book is dual language, with texts in both English and Italian.
Best books of 2023 (Architecture and Design) - Financial Times
'Brutalist Italian architecture enthusiasts and concrete completists will be spoilt for choice by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego's pictorial tour.' - Wallpaper*
What makes Italian Brutalist buildings different to their counterparts in other countries? Containing over 140 exclusive photographs - ranging from private homes to churches and cemeteries via football stadia - across every region of the country, Brutalist Italy is the first publication to focus entirely on this subject.
Architectural photographers Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego (authors of Soviet Asia) have spent the past five years travelling over 20,000 kilometres documenting the monumental concrete structures of their native country.
Brutalism - with its minimalist aesthetic, favouring raw materials and structural elements over decorative design - has a complex relationship with Italian history. After World War II, Italian architects were keen to distance themselves from fascism, without rejecting the architectural modernism that had flourished during that era. They developed a form of contemporary architecture that engaged with traditional methods and materials, drawing on uncontaminated historical references. This plurality of pasts assimilated into new constructions is a recurring feature of the country's Brutalist buildings, imparting to them a unique identity.
From the imposing social housing of Le Vele di Scampia to the celestial Our Lady of Tears Sanctuary, Syracuse - Brutalist Italy collects the most compelling examples of this extraordinary architecture for the first time in a single volume.
The book is dual language, with texts in both English and Italian.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
153 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 208 mm
Width: 167 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
638 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-7398878-3-4 (9781739887834)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Roberto Conte (1980) began taking photographs in 2006. Today he works closely with architectural practices, artists and designers, specialising in documenting buildings of the 20th century - ranging from avant-garde and rationalist structures to post-war modernism, brutalism and contemporary architecture.
Stefano Perego (1984) began photographing the industrial ruins of Milan in 2006 and has since documented hundreds of abandoned sites across Europe. After visiting the former Yugoslavia, he decided to concentrate on the modernist and brutalist architecture of former socialist countries.
Adrian Forty is Emeritus Professor of the History of Architecture - The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
EDITORS: Damon Murray and Stephen Sorrell have been publishing critically acclaimed books on design and architecture since 2004.
Stefano Perego (1984) began photographing the industrial ruins of Milan in 2006 and has since documented hundreds of abandoned sites across Europe. After visiting the former Yugoslavia, he decided to concentrate on the modernist and brutalist architecture of former socialist countries.
Adrian Forty is Emeritus Professor of the History of Architecture - The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
EDITORS: Damon Murray and Stephen Sorrell have been publishing critically acclaimed books on design and architecture since 2004.
Content
Introduction by Adrian Forty (in English and Italian)
Map of Italy showing administrative regions
North West
North East
Centre
South
Afterword by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego (in English and Italian)
Map of Italy showing administrative regions
North West
North East
Centre
South
Afterword by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego (in English and Italian)