Brutalist London Map

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How many times have you walked past this Grade ll listed London landmark and never given it a second thought? The Grade I listed building overlooks leafy Regent’s Park and sits amidst the area’s palatial Regency architecture, somehow managing to be sympathetic to both whilst also standing out as a modernist masterpiece in its own right. The Standard Denys Lasdun’s National Theatre is a splitter. In 2001 it managed to earn places in a Radio Times poll of both the most hated and most loved buildings in Britain.

Swiss Cottage Library Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory (formerly the Metropolitan Police Central Communications Command Centre) The rest of the Southbank Centre, of course, is one big concrete playground; from the hodgepodge of sprouting mushroom columns and jumbled geometries of the Hayward Gallery, to the graffiti-slathered ramps and columns of the undercroft skatepark, this place is brutalism 101 for any Londoner. The best thing is, you can explore from top to bottom, inside and out. Splurge in a brutalist shopping centre A shopping centre that you also want to live in. Image: Londonist After the destruction of so many buildings during WW2, there was a great need for new social housing which made the techniques used in brutalist architecture very popular in the 60s and 70s. Based on the philosophy of form following function and celebrating the materials used in construction. It is identified by extensive use of exposed, unfinished concrete and often features bold geometric forms with an abstract sculptural quality.This piece of prime London brutalism also recently caught the attention of Grammy winner Harry Styles, with the brutalist Barbican taking a starring role in his music video for As It Was. To be fair, we always thought One Direction’s original music was also pretty Brutal. Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together. Calder’s distinctive approach is a combination of scholarliness with personal association. He is good on detail and such things as the role of cheap energy in making brutalism (badly insulated, and often requiring air conditioning and lifts) possible. The personal element comes when he favours buildings in places where his academic career has taken him, such as Glasgow and Cambridge. It makes for a readable, informative, if sometimes eccentric, account. There is not all that much on Peter Smithson and his wife Alison, who were at the core of brutalism. There is quite a lot on Denys Lasdun, architect of the National Theatre, a favourite of Calder’s (and mine) but who didn’t like the term brutalist and didn’t think himself one. He makes a remarkable, if small, discovery of Hermit’s Castle, a miniature fortified-looking refuge on the remote north-west coast of Scotland, built by the young architect David Scott with his own hands, using beach sand for the concrete. Churchill Gardens; Anson House (constructed 1952-1957/phase III) (left) and Moyle House (constructed 1957-1962/phase IV) (right) Hayward Gallery The brutalist Barbican Estate is located in the City of London Square Mile and we’d recommend you arrive via Barbican Tube station.

Get cultured in a brutalist theatre Concrete used with poetry and made with great feeling. Image: Londonist This was a green light for us, plus there was no mention of not being allowed to have a camera on your person! The following are a mix of familiar and somewhat less well-known Brutalist buildings in London. Please add your own personal favourites in the comments section below as there are happily (or not, depending on your standpoint) many examples of this uncompromising architectural style in our beloved capital.

The swish Paramount restaurant and bar occupies the top floors and has outstanding views of London. There is also a free viewing gallery. Phone up beforehand (0207 4202900) to let them know that you’re coming. It’s been allowed to decay a little over the years but one pro of building with concrete is that it’s not decayed much. In 2022 Seaforth Land was contracted to repair and refurbish the structure which is expected to be made into fancy offices, and possibly a retail centre. Daily updates on the latest design and architecture vacancies advertised on Dezeen Jobs. Plus occasional news. Dezeen Jobs Weekly Much maligned, yet increasingly loved, brutalist architecture continually divides opinion. A quote by Jonathan Foyle, chief executive of the World Monuments Fund Britain said humorously, “It is damned by its name which comes from the French, béton brut, or raw concrete, but we use the same word [Brut] to describe Champagne and this perhaps sums up the dichotomy at the heart of this style”.