There’s the City University building in Northampton Square, Finsbury, which was designed by Sheppard Robson and built between 1960 and 1976; Elia Mews in Islington, designed by the Greater London Council and built in the late 60s; and Quaker Court in Banner Street, Bunhill, also designed by the GLC and built at a similar time. Exhibition sponsored by Sotheby’s and generously supported by Mr Gregory Jankilevitsch; Waddington Custot; and Bauwerk. 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. Take the stairs upstairs from the station to the gantry that goes directly onto the estate, mooch around and then finish at the Barbican Centre station, which has brutalist style symmetrical ponds and a great place to get a drink or catch a show.

Brutal London: Barbican: Build Your Own Brutalist London

The Hayward Gallery building itself is best viewed from the adjoining Waterloo Bridge. How to get to Hayward Gallery Of course, not all brutalist architecture is doomed, with some celebrated more than others. The Southbank Centre complex, including the Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Festival Hall, and the adjacent National Theatre are marvels of engineering that have become icons of the city, both architecturally and culturally where they play host to numerous plays, shows and exhibitions every year. Thatcher thought that having a property stake (with the value, however, unrealisable without departure) was the solution but it was only the half of it. The new property holders needed to have the resources not only to buy their property but to maintain not only it but their community. When, finally, and probably not under the Tory look-alike Labour Party which has long since disconnected from its working class base, investment in social housing is considered as a political necessity it may only be after some quasi-revolutionary change at the heart of the nation.

Hampstead isn’t all rolling heaths and quaint, cottage feels. It’s also home to a brutalist building with quite an origin story… The Art Gallery has two levels, linked by a flight of 24 stairs with an intermediate landing. A passengeroperated lift (76 x 110cm) connects the two floors. If you need assistance, staff will be happy to help. 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. The estates were the new society but only in its theorising. They presumed a type of human who would be happy to be functionally assigned their bit of space and play their role in society but this assumed they would have an autonomous role in society not merely be atomised by capitalism. Sir Denys Lasdun was an English architect behind many of London’s most iconic brutalist buildings including the Royal National Theatre on Southbank and 20 Bedford Way in Bloomsbury. He used rough textures in his concrete forms, in particular wood ‘shuttering’ produced when the concrete was cast in situ.

Brutal Kits - by Zupagrafika Brutal Kits - by Zupagrafika

Rooted in Modernism and evident in the work of Le Corbusier in the late 1940s, the term brutalism was first used in an architectural context by Swedish architect Hans Asplund in 1950 who discussed nybrutalism. In 1954 architectural critic Reyner Banham used the term more widely in his writings to refer to the work of English architects Alison and Peter Smithson. The couple who went on to create the iconic Hunstanton School in Norfolk and later, the Robin Hood Gardens in Poplar, East London. Their style rebelled against the more formal architecture of the 1930s and 40s. It should also be mentioned that as at 2023, Thamesmead is in the midst of major redevelopment works so much of the best London brutalist architecture here may soon be lost. How to get to ThamesmeadWeston Rise. Picture: Simon Phipps / Extracted from Brutal London by Simon Phipps. (Image: Archant) From hidden housing estates to concrete cultural centres, brutalism London is still very much visible in the capital. So many times was Brixton Recreation Centre nearly a failed project, it’s sort of a miracle that the building even exists today. When it comes to Brutalist architecture, London is home to some of the finest examples on the planet. This is a guide to Brutalist architecture in London as well as an overview of the architectural style and its origins. The Royal Festival Hall is the largest venue in the Southbank Centre. Designed by Robert Matthew with Leslie Martin and Peter Munro, it was designed to represent the optimism and forward-thinking attitude of postwar Britain.