Back to Brutalism

After a few months away from my Beautiful Brutalism project it was lovely to have a few days to work on it again and set up two more shoots. The first building I photographed was the Royal College of Physicians, London designed by Denys Lasdun in 1959. The building has a more classical feel then his most notable design, The National Theatre on the Southbank but still has those lovely angles and simple lines which I enjoy photographing.

The next building I wanted to add to my project is a smaller and less well known brutalist structure, Welbeck Street Car Park in Central London. Built in 1970 by Michael Blampied it is a real gem. With it's interlocking diamond-shaped concrete panels it definitely makes a statement, in an era when even a simple car park was well designed and didn't just blend into the urban landscape it still looks amazing.

To view the rest of the images and my project so far please visit my website.

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New Work - Brutalist Playgounds

I have wanted to visit and add some brutalist playgrounds to my Beautiful Brutalism project for a long time. I remember playing on a concrete tube we called 'the saddle' at my old primary school and loved it. So have fond memories of these concrete playgrounds. Unfortunately not many have survived but last November I researched and visited a playground that was still standing down in South Clapham beneath Belgravia House tower block. This was a fantastic playground with a spiral slide and tunnels to run through the hill that housed the slide. It was great to see the playground was well maintained and looked like it was still used. I couldn't resist and have to say the slide was fantastic! The whole project can be seen here. Then earlier this year I visited the Aintree Estate playground in Fulham. The two tower blocks, Hartopp Point and Lannoy Point are due to be demolished this year so wanted to visit before access was difficult and the area the playground is sit...

Brutalism in Photos Feature

Oracle Time Magazine featured a lovely positive article about brutalist architecture in London in their June issue of the magazine and online. Along with photographs from my ongoing personal project Beautiful Brutalism they also featured the work of photographers Simon Phipps and Hayley Goodwin. The online article can be read here .

Concrete Cambridge

Over the last few months I have been adding a few colleges in Cambridge to my Beautiful Brutalism project. Many new college buildings that were being built from the late 50's to 70's embraced contemporary architecture of concrete, steel and brick and many leading architects of the era were commissioned to design these new buildings. New Court, Christ's College and Fitzwilliam College by Denys Lasdun, George Thomson Building of Corpus Christi College by Philip Dowson of Arup and the History Faculty by James Stirling to name a few. I photographed the two Lasdun designed buildings late last year. New Court, Christ's College, 1970, has an amazing steeped slope of the students rooms with a terrace running through the middle. The rooms all have large windows that allow light to flood in and the use of exposed reinforced concrete is beautiful. Fitzwilliam College, 1964, has a very distinctive shell-vault like roof on the dining hall which is visible from the str...

JO UNDERHILL / STRUCTURALEYE

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