roberto conte and stefano perego capture brutalism across italy

brutalism from naples to trieste

Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego have teamed up to announce ‘Brutalist Italy: Concrete Architecture from the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea’ — the first photographic book of its kind capturing a selection of over 100 Italian brutalist structures. Over the last five years, the Italian architectural photographers have travelled 20,000 kilometers, crossing all regions of the peninsula to document a vast array of buildings conceived in the brutalist style, with the majority realized between the 1960s and the 1980s.

From the Casa del Portuale in Naples to the Jesi cemetery, from the Sanctuary of Monte Grisa in Trieste to the ‘Washing Machines’ in Genoa, the book curates a surprising collection of structures, defined by their bold use of exposed reinforced concrete, and clear and well-defined structural elements. ‘Brutalist Italy’ will be available from September 7, 2023.

‘The Washing Machines’ Pegli 3 housing complex, Genoa | image by Stefano Perego

roberto conte and stefano perego announce ‘brutalist italy’

Featuring text in both Italian and English, ‘Brutalist Italy’ contains an introduction by Adrian Forty, professor emeritus of architectural history at the University College of London, and an afterword by both Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego. Forty’s words illuminate the essence of brutalism:‘It was, though, above all in their willingness to acknowledge that concrete could be of more than one time, that it could represent both the present (or the future) and the past simultaneously, that Italian architects stood out from their counterparts elsewhere in the world. Generally, during the twentieth century, concrete was treated exclusively as a future-oriented medium – it signified an age that had not arrived, and the fact that it also had a past was strenuously denied. But circumstances in Italy made architects anxious to represent its past as well as its future.’

Studio-Museum Augusto Murer, Falcade. Giuseppe Davanzo (1970-1971) | image by Roberto Conte

Villa Gontero, Cumiana. Carlo Graffi, Sergio Musmeci (1969-1971) | image by Roberto Conte

Cemetery Extension, Jesi. Leonardo Ricci (1984-1994) | image by Stefano Perego

unfinished building, Ispica | image by Roberto Conte

unfinished residential building, Bisaccia. Aldo Loris Rossi (1981, built in 1990) | image by Roberto Conte

National Temple to Mary, Mother and Queen, Trieste. Antonio Guacci e Sergio Musmeci (1965) | image by Stefano Perego

Monumental Cemetery extension, Busto Arsizio. Luigi Ciapparella (1971) | image by Stefano Perego

urban furniture, Collevalenza – Todi. Julio Lafuente (1953-1974) | image by Stefano Perego

Jesus the Redeemer Church, Turin. Nicola Mosso, Leonardo Mosso, Livio Norzi (1954-1957) | image by Stefano Perego

Our Lady of Tears Sanctuary, Syracuse. Michel Andrault, Pierre Parat (1966-1994) | image by Roberto Conte

Monument to the Resistance, Macerata. Paolo Castelli, Luigi Cristini, Romano Pellei (1969) | image by Roberto Conte

project info:

name: Brutalist Italy
photographers: Roberto Conte, Stefano Perego

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edited by: ravail khan | designboom