WorkPhotography

Utopia: Photography that pays tribute to London's greatest Brutalist buildings

In their collaborative series Utopia, Sweden's studio esinam and London-based architecture photographer Rory Gardiner pay tribute to some of London's greatest examples of Brutalist architecture: The Barbican Estate, Royal National Theatre, Hayward Gallery, Trellick Tower and the Robin Hood Gardens.

Written By:
Brutalist concrete structure with climbing purple flowering vines, overhanging tropical plants and weathered surfaces showcasing raw architectural detail

The collection of images aims to capture the subtle beauty of Brutalism at its best. As explained: "The sculptural use of concrete, as structure, surface, detail, totality and as ornament. Its tactile surfaces. The raw and exposed, but at the same time the careful and detailed. The massive scale of the projects and the human-centred ideas that once shaped this form of architecture."

The series was photographed during the early spring of this year. A selection of the photographs have been printed in limited edition and are available at www.studioesinam.com.

studio esinam is a creative studio based in Sweden and was founded by art director and architect duo Josefine Lilljegren and Sebastian Gokah in 2013. For more information about Rory, visit rory-gardiner.com.

Via studio esinam | All images courtesy of Rory Gardiner

Brutalist concrete residential tower with repetitive balconies and grid of windows, photographed at dusk with a single street light illuminated below
Brutalist concrete structure of the Barbican Estate with imposing residential towers and horizontal bands of balconies beneath an overcast sky
Brutalist concrete colonnade with repeating pillars and angular overhanging structure, with a solitary figure visible in the shadowed arcade
Brutalist tower blocks and a curved residential building at the Barbican Estate in London, with a person in red walking through the concrete plaza at dusk
The Royal National Theatre's imposing brutalist facade of stacked concrete forms and cylindrical towers against an overcast sky
Visitors sit beneath towering concrete walls and vertical light installations at the Barbican Estate's brutalist architecture
Brutalist concrete towers and geometric structures of the Barbican Estate rise against an overcast sky
Brutalist concrete structure with massive supporting pillar beneath an overhead bridge, featuring geometric forms and expansive paved courtyard
A person in a burgundy coat walks across a paved plaza in front of the Hayward Gallery, a multi-level Brutalist concrete building with distinctive architectural features
Brutalist concrete building with stacked box-like balconies and geometric forms, photographed against a clear sky with figures visible at ground level
Silhouetted figure gazing out through large windows at the brutalist concrete structures of the Barbican Estate in London
Bare tree branches spread against a concrete Brutalist building facade with vertical ribbed panels and horizontal beams
Tall Brutalist residential tower beside a calm canal with moored narrowboats, surrounded by bare trees under overcast sky
Brutalist concrete building facade with small rectangular windows and a black horizontal connector bridge casting shadows in sunlight
Trellick Tower's distinctive tall concrete tower with protruding service core rises beside a grid of residential balconies against a clear sky
Brutalist concrete residential tower with repetitive rows of small windows and protruding balconies creating strong geometric shadows across the grey facade
Brutalist concrete building with repetitive geometric window patterns and a dramatic cantilevered section, set against modern residential towers and bare tree in foreground
A modernist concrete residential building with repetitive rows of windows and a blue-railed courtyard fenced area at ground level, featuring Brutalist architectural design.
Brutalist concrete residential tower with a repetitive grid of rectangular windows and horizontal bands of dark material running across its facade, bare tree branches visible at bottom right
Printed photograph mounted on concrete wall showing Brutalist architecture with cascading wisteria and tropical plants adorning a geometric concrete facade
White-framed photograph of bare tree branches against a grid of dark windows on a concrete Brutalist building facade
Printed photograph of a dark Brutalist tower block with repetitive balconies and windows mounted on concrete wall
Minimalist artwork showing a hazy cityscape silhouette with geometric Brutalist building forms against a white background, mounted on a concrete wall
Share

Further Reading