Containing over 140 exclusive photographs - ranging from private homes to football stadia -
across every region of the country Brutalist Italy is the first publication to focus entirely
on this subject. Best books of 2023 (Architecture and Design) - Financial Times
'Brutalist Italian architecture enthusiasts and concrete completists will be spoilt for choice
by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego's pictorial tour.' - Wallpaper* What makes Italian
Brutalist buildings different to their counterparts in other countries? Containing over 140
exclusive photographs - ranging from private homes to churches and cemeteries via football
stadia - across every region of the country Brutalist Italy is the first publication to focus
entirely on this subject. Architectural photographers Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego
(authors of Soviet Asia) have spent the past five years travelling over 20 000 kilometres
documenting the monumental concrete structures of their native country. Brutalism - with its
minimalist aesthetic favouring raw materials and structural elements over decorative design -
has a complex relationship with Italian history. After World War II Italian architects were
keen to distance themselves from fascism without rejecting the architectural modernism that
had flourished during that era. They developed a form of contemporary architecture that engaged
with traditional methods and materials drawing on uncontaminated historical references. This
plurality of pasts assimilated into new constructions is a recurring feature of the country's
Brutalist buildings imparting to them a unique identity. From the imposing social housing
of Le Vele di Scampia to the celestial Our Lady of Tears Sanctuary Syracuse - Brutalist Italy
collects the most compelling examples of this extraordinary architecture for the first time in
a single volume. The book is dual language with texts in both English and Italian.
