Books

Books on Brutalism 
There are very few books dedicated only to the study of the brutalist style however brutalist buildings feature in many other architectural publications and books.

1

Guide to Modern Buildings in London 
(1976)
Charles Mckean & Tom Jestico 

*****

Very good guide including most of the important examples of brutalism in London, unfortunately quite hard to get hold of. 





(Out of print and not available for reasonable prices online) 






2

A Broken Wave - The rebuilding of England 1940-1980
(1981)
Lionel Esher 
****
General background to Post-war British architecture with some relevant chapters on Brutalism 
(Available online)

3

The Buildings of England guides
Nicholas Pevsner
(Various issues - based on counties)
** (for brutalism)
Very good guides for the keen architectural student as the master of the Perambulation although often found wanting (often due to lack of revision as many of the buildings date from after initial publication note - the Birmingham issue is particularly disappointing with little mention of modern buildings!) and overly critical when encountering brutalism.

4 

Guide to modern architecture 
(1962) 
Rayner Banham 
***
An interesting little book on the international development of the modern style which includes something on the development of concrete and early brutalism
(Out of print and not available for reasonable prices online)

5

Brutalism: post-war architecture 
(2011)
Alexander Clement 
**
One of the few books dedicated to brutalism but I found it rather a disappointment. 

6
High-Rise
(1975)
JG Ballard 
****
Fictional account of the decent into chaos of a recently built high-rise
see review here 

7
Utopia on trial 
Alice Coleman
****
Very good report outlininjg some of the common failings of council estates including brutalist ones, worth a read for anyone with an interest in council housing 

8
Estates 


:: why not contribute a review of a book you have read? email me lmajm@hotmail.co.uk