SOS Brutalism: Save the concrete monsters

"Working in collaboration with the Wüstenrot Stiftung, a foundation that has been engaged over the last three decades in the preservation of buildings according to heritage considerations, we set out to compile a global 'Red List' of Brutalist buildings to determine which ones were particularly endangered and to see how these frequently unbeloved structures could be re-evaluated. The hashtag #SOSBrutalism was set up for this purpose, and over the past two years has become the international catchall for all initiatives concerned with Brutalism. While preparing the exhibition, a website was set up that now has over 1,000 buildings in its database, thanks to the many contributions made by diligent followers on all social media channels.

"One hundred and twenty Brutalist buildings are described in detail in a 540-page book published by Park Books in Zurich, and about a dozen of them will be placed on view at the DAM exhibition in the form of models custom-built for the event. As the exhibition will show, Brutalism was a global phenomenon in its time, and a young generation of architects was able to establish itself with the help of the sculptural buildings. The architectural style often served as the basis for a new self-assurance: following the devastation of the Second World War in Japan, for example, a new and specifically Japanese architecture emerged by combining traditional carpentry crafts with new concrete technology. These buildings went on to be imitated all over the world, particularly in places with a hunger for new architecture, such as earthquake-shattered Skopje in Macedonia, and the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany."

Further information on the exhibition can be obtained here.