WorkPhotography

Photographer Marietta Varga's dreamy utopian vision for London's brutalist architecture

Often associated with a socialist utopian ideology, brutalist architecture continues to be a topical modernist movement of the early 20th century, and one that continues to spark debate today. Love them or hate them, the raw concrete tower blocks and shopping centres from the 1950s to the mid-1970s are very much part of our urban landscape.

Written By:
Via Creative Boom submission. All images copyright of Marietta Varga

Via Creative Boom submission. All images copyright of Marietta Varga

For her latest series, Raw Hill photographer Marietta Varga (featured previously) wanted to highlight a number of brutalist buildings in London – National Theatre of Great Britain, The Barbican and the Alexandra Road Estate – with the aim to change hearts and minds. By using two subjects, posing in around these buildings, she wanted to draw attention to the "characteristic playful aesthetics" and "artistic value" of brutalist architecture.

"Functional, raw, stunning, monumental, special, ugly, geometric, massive, representative, beautiful, rough – people usually have very divided opinions about brutalist architecture," says Marietta. "Many might only associate the movement to political trends and the ideology of an era that is often associated with a negative spirit, forgetting its artistic value and particular beauty."

Born in Siófok, Hungary, Marietta graduated with a photography degree from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. She now lives and works in London. Discover more of her beautiful work on Behance or Instagram.

Two figures embracing on a curved brutalist concrete platform against towering geometric concrete buildings
Two figures in pastel clothing lie on a concrete floor against brutalist concrete pillars, their legs raised in a playful pose within a stark geometric corridor
Two figures in pastel clothing stand on a balcony against brutalist concrete architecture with geometric ceiling patterns in Marietta Varga's Raw Hill series
Person in pink scarf and pale blue shirt reclines on a concrete ledge against brutalist architecture, gazing upward
Two figures pose on angled concrete surfaces of brutalist architecture, one in pink jacket with raised leg, the other in white shirt lying across the sloped plane
Figure in pink clothing and hood draws a bow and arrow against a grey brutalist concrete building with geometric architectural features
Two figures in pastel clothing stand within a concrete brutalist structure, holding fabric up to their faces against a geometric grey backdrop
Two figures positioned at different levels against brutalist concrete structures, with one wearing a pink head covering on a lower platform and another visible above on an upper level
Two figures positioned on different levels of a brutalist concrete structure, one standing on an upper curved platform and another below on the ground level
Two figures lying on grey paved ground wearing pastel clothing and white gloves, shot from above
Two people in colourful clothing pose on a brutalist concrete balcony beneath a dramatic angular roof structure, framed symmetrically by towering concrete pillars
Two figures in pastel-coloured clothing stand in a window opening within a massive textured concrete brutalist wall, with a ladder visible behind them
Share

Further Reading

Take the Creative Boom survey

Take the Creative Boom Survey