An accessible guide to Brutalist architecture, featuring 50 existing international examples built between the 1950s and the 1970s. Descriptions cover key details about the buildings as well as context for its original use, public reception and current status. With a foreword by Joanthan Meades.
"A breathless love letter to a disappearing epoch. This funny, smart and beguiling book will make you want to jump on a plane before it's too late."
"A snappy and surprising read. The expansive selection of buildings and waggish commentary help take apart tired definitions and break open the prematurely closed canon of brutalist architecture."
"This is not a worthy but dull architecture book. This is not a coffee table statement. Yes, it looks beautiful. Yes, you'll seem sophisticated for owning it. But shockingly, it's also insanely engaging. Beanland's commentary is fast-flowing, smart and very funny. Exactly what you want from a book about concrete."
"A witty, high-adrenalin, concrete-fuelled mega-tour of some of the world's unfairly maligned 'monstrosities'. Concrete Concept is a gutsy, bombastic love song."
"This tour around some of the world's great buildings is a treat for any brutalist architecture fan."
"The text of this book, which profiles 50 brutalist beasts, is witty, lively and informative. The numerous photographs are first class. Concrete Concept gave me new eyes."
"we'd suggest leafing through Christopher Beanland's Concrete Concept, a dazzlingly shot whistle-stop of the much-maligned style's greatest hits ... the book showcases the confidence, clarity and historical importance of the movement."
"The buildings chosen by Beanland truly evoke their period and each have something to say to us today."
'a fine slab of brutalism... it's a belter.'
A simply must have book for any fan of Brutalist architecture'
"Concrete Concept ... celebrates so-called brutalist buildings across the world"
"Brick-like new tome Concrete Concept demonstrates the unexpected serenity of some of the world's greatest Brutalist buildings ... Open the pages up and you'll be greeted by light, cheerful photographs and an accessible, tongue-and-cheek commentary."
"a surprisingly light-weight book that provides us a visual world-tour of tortured edifices."
"It's a fascinating glimpse into an area of architecture where abstraction seems to solidify into cold, hard - and sometimes beautiful - reality."
"a lively journey around the world's brutalist buildings."
"Concrete Conceptreinforces our love for all things grey, textured and modern."
"a wholesome first introduction to the wonderful world of concrete brutes for those yet uninitiated"
"An almanac of fashionably extreme concrete"
