In Portugal, the Varosa dam was built on a small tributary of the Douro River. The concrete vault is best known for its impressive staircase built in terraces, allowing the natural rock and the structure of the dam to merge.
Casa Carvajal, a Brutalist House on a Slope
After a successful first part of his career the Spanish architect Javier Carvajal built the Casa Carvajal for his family. This 1000m² house made of rough concrete is remarkable for its spatial articulation and its adaptation to the surrounding environment.
Giuseppe Davanzo, Foro Boario di Padova
The Foro Boario is a livestock market built in the mid-60s in Padova, Italia. Its ingenious design built in prefabricated concrete modules did not find its place in the unbridled context of an expanding city.
Espai Verd, A Vegetal Urban Cathedral
The Espai Verd is a modular housing complex built in Valencia following a reflection combining vegetation and community. This example of bio-climatic architecture deals with many environmental issues in a hybrid building with a forest backbone spreading throughout the spaces.
The Brion Cemetery, Carlo Scarpa
North of Venice, Carlo Scarpa built a private mausoleum for the Brion family, a synthesis of his architectural work and his capacity for constructive invention. A manifesto project where concrete allows the sculpting of forms and decorative elements conducive to meditation.
A Future City From The Past, Clemens Gritl
In the series A Future City From The Past, Clemens Gritl builds concrete buildings inspired by the dystopian universe of J.G Ballard. These brutalist megastructures explore the influence of monumental architecture on a society and its human beings.
Musée International d’horlogerie, a Troglodyte Architecture
The Musée International d’horlogerie (International Watchmaking Museum) in La-Chaux-de-Fonds could well be the first European experiment in contemporary troglodyte architecture as it was defined by Pierre Zoelly and Georges-Jacques Haefeli. It’s a buried building with remarkable spatial qualities supported by an efficient structure, constructed under a park in 1974.
Pierre Zoelly, a House for a Sculptor
At the end of the 1960s, the Swiss architect Pierre Zoelly designed a house for the sculptor Peter Hächler. He built a concrete structure, the organic heart of the house, which will be the perfect interlocutor for the sculptures it houses.
The Higüey Basilica, a Brutalist Cathedral in the Caribbean
After the Second World War an international competition was launched to build a basilica in the city of Higüey in the Dominican Republic. This city, which then had barely 10,000 inhabitants, saw the emergence of a monumental concrete cathedral at a time when its growing economic importance was just beginning.
Anastasis Church, Álvaro Siza
The Anastasis church, is a white concrete monolith designed by Alvaro Siza, built in the heart of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande in France. The sacred building is the first church built in the 21st century in Brittany, but it is also a modular place open to the life of the neighbourhood.