The term ‘brutalism’ was coined by the British architects Alison and Peter Smithson, and popularised by the architectural historian Reyner Banham in 1954. It derives from ‘Béton brut’ (raw concrete) and was first associated in architecture with Le Corbusier, who designed the Cite Radieuse in Marseilles in the late-1940s.

Brutalism has its roots in modernism but arose as a movement against the conventional architectural style. Brutalism placed an emphasis on materials, textures and construction as well as functionality and equality. The brutalist architects challenged traditional philosophies of what a building should look like, focusing on interior spaces as much as exterior.

Brutalism became a popular style throughout the 1960s as the austerity of the 1950s gave way to dynamism and self-confidence. It was commonly used for government projects, educational buildings such as universities, car parks, leisure and shopping centres, and high-rise blocks of flats.

The buildings presented in this photography series are part of The Barbican Centre (1971), a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe.

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