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Top 13 Brutalist buildings (that I’ve visited)

Spiral staircase on the Alexandra Road Estate

The recent printing of my Alton Estate book has got me reminiscing about Brutalist buildings in general and I realise I’ve either lived in, next to or visited a fair few. Regardless of Brutalism’s new-found hipness, opinion of the post-war style still polarizes people and many of the buildings have been demolished in recent years, including two on this list. Many more are in disrepair.

Despite their reputation as either 1960s sink estates in London, monstrous blocks of flats in Russia or Yugoslavian battle monuments (known as spomeniks), Brutalist buildings were built worldwide over many decades, as this list goes to show (though to be fair, there are quite a few London council estates listed). There are many great Brutalist examples in Europe and in the Americas; I’ve included a recent one from Lima, Peru. I happened to pass by the building just before it was awarded the RIBA International Prize in 2016, where it was described as a ‘modern day Machu Picchu’. I hadn’t heard of it but it caught my eye – it’s pretty hard to miss – and I took a quick snap of it.

NATIONAL THEATRE, SOUTH BANK CENTRE, LONDON, UK
Year 1976
Architect Denys Lasdun


BUZLUDZHA MONUMENT, BULGARIA
Year 1981
Architect Georgi Stoilov


NATIONAL LIBRARY OF KOSOVO, PRISTINA, KOSOVO
Year 1982
Architect Andrija Mutnjaković


CENTRAL POST OFFICE, SKOPJE, NORTH MACEDONIA
Year 1982
Architect Janko Konstantinov


WELBECK STREET CAR PARK, LONDON, UK
Year 1970 (Demolished 2019)
Architects Michael Blampied and Partners


ALTON ESTATE, LONDON, UK
Year 1959
Architects London County Council


CAMBERWELL SUBMARINE, LONDON, UK
Year 1974
Architects Michael Luffingham, Frank de Marco, Bill Jacoby and Ted Hollamby


BARBICAN ESTATE, LONDON, UK
Year 1982
Architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon


ALEXANDRA ROAD ESTATE, LONDON, UK
Year 1978
Architect Neave Brown


ROBIN HOOD GARDENS, LONDON, UK
Year 1972 (Demolished 2018)
Architects Alison and Peter Smithson


TRELLICK TOWER, LONDON, UK
Year 1972
Architect Ernő Goldfinger


DAWSON’S HEIGHTS, LONDON, UK
Year 1972
Architect Kate Macintosh


UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, LIMA, PERU
Year 2015
Architects Grafton Architects


Previously on Barnflakes
Alton Estate of Mind – the book, revised and redesigned
Concrete patterns
Brutalist Brighton at the Spiritualist Church
Brutalism on the beach
Concrete UFO spotted on Bulgarian mountain pass
Notes on Lordship Lane, East Dulwich SE22
Top ten London buildings
The Sparrows of Kosovo
Battle of the Brutalists
London through its charity shops #35: Swiss Cottage NW3, NW6 & NW8
The Camberwell submarine
2 Willow Road

Elsewhere on Barnflakes
Alton Estate of Mind

Flickr Albums
Kosovo
Skopje, North Macedonia
Peru
Staircases