Brutalism

Die vergessenen Alternativen

Anfang der 1950er Jahre befand sich die europäische Architektur in einer Krise. Die neuen, nach funktionalistischen Kriterien geplanten Stadtviertel und Siedlungen, die nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg innerhalb kurzer Zeit realisiert werden mussten, konnten die Versprechen nicht einlösen, die einst die architektonische Avantgarde gegeben hatte. Wollte die moderne Architektur glaubwürdige Alternativen anbieten, musste sie sich neu erfinden. Dabei knüpfte sie an Fragen an, die bereits zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts in der bildenden Kunst gestellt worden waren. Über die Kunst erschloss sich nun auch der Architektur eine "primitive", außerrationale Erfahrung, welcher der New Brutalism eine Plattform bot. Der Strukturalismus hingegen war der Versuch, die Philosophie der Zeit in Architektur zu fassen. Anhand von 150 Abbildungen und Plänen werden die Konzepte dieser beiden großen Strömungen der Nachkriegsarchitektur vorgestellt. Dieses Buch stellt eine Verbindung her zwischen den frühen Konzepten der New Brutalists und den späteren baulichen Realisierungen der Strukturalisten. Es verknüpft eine erweiterte Wahrnehmung der physischen Welt mit den "rationalen" Ambitionen der Architekten dieser Epoche.

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Soviet Bus Stops

Photographer Christopher Herwig first noticed the unusual architecture of Soviet-era bus stops during a 2002 long-distance bike ride from London to St. Petersburg. Challenging himself to take one good photograph every hour, Herwig began to notice surprisingly designed bus stops on otherwise deserted stretches of road. Twelve years later, Herwig had covered more than 18,000 miles in 14 countries of the former Soviet Union, traveling by car, bike, bus and taxi to hunt down and document these bus stops. The local bus stop proved to be fertile ground for local artistic experimentation in the Soviet period, and was built seemingly without design restrictions or budgetary concerns. The result is an astonishing variety of styles and types across the region, from the strictest Brutalism to exuberant whimsy. Soviet Bus Stops is the most comprehensive and diverse collection of Soviet bus stop design ever assembled, including examples from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Abkhazia, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus and Estonia. Originally published in a quickly sold-out limited edition, Soviet Bus Stops, named one of the best photobooks of 2014 by Martin Parr, is now available in a highly anticipated, expanded smaller-format trade edition.

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Price: 17.99 EUR excl. shipping

Modern Buildings in Britain (eBook, ePUB)

The definitive illustrated guide to modern British architecture, from one of the most acclaimed critics at work todayModernism is now a century old, and its consequences are all around us, built into our everyday lived environments. Its place in Britain's history is fiercely contested, and its role in our future is the subject of ongoing controversy - but modernist buildings have undoubtedly changed our cities, politics and identity forever. In Modern Buildings in Britain, Owen Hatherley applauds the ambition and explores the significance of this most divisive of architectures, travelling from Aberystwyth to Aberdeen, from St Ives to Shetland, in search of our most important and distinctive modern buildings. Drawing on hundreds of examples, we learn how the concrete of Brutalism embodies post-war civic principles, how corporate values were expressed in the glass façades of the International Style, and why Ecomodernist experimentation is often consigned to the geographic fringes. As Hatherley considers the social, political and cultural value of these structures - a number of which are threatened by demolition - two linked questions emerge: what happens to a building after it has been lived in, and what becomes of an idea when its time has passed? With more than six hundred pages of trenchantly opinionated, often witty analysis, and with three hundred photographs in duotone and colour, Modern Buildings in Britain is a landmark contribution to the history of British architecture.

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Price: 19.99 EUR excl. shipping

Modern Buildings in Britain

The definitive illustrated guide to modern British architecture, from one of the most acclaimed critics at work todayModernism is now a century old, and its consequences are all around us, built into our everyday lived environments. Its place in Britain's history is fiercely contested, and its role in our future is the subject of ongoing controversy - but modernist buildings have undoubtedly changed our cities, politics and identity forever.In Modern Buildings in Britain, Owen Hatherley applauds the ambition and explores the significance of this most divisive of architectures, travelling from Aberystwyth to Aberdeen, from St Ives to Shetland, in search of our most important and distinctive modern buildings. Drawing on hundreds of examples, we learn how the concrete of Brutalism embodies post-war civic principles, how corporate values were expressed in the glass façades of the International Style, and why Ecomodernist experimentation is often consigned to the geographic fringes. As Hatherley considers the social, political and cultural value of these structures - a number of which are threatened by demolition - two linked questions emerge: what happens to a building after it has been lived in, and what becomes of an idea when its time has passed?With more than six hundred pages of trenchantly opinionated, often witty analysis, and with three hundred photographs in duotone and colour, Modern Buildings in Britain is a landmark contribution to the history of British architecture.

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Why Rebel

'If bravery itself could write, it would write like she does' John BergerWhy rebel?Because our footprint on the Earth has never mattered more than now. How we treat it, in the spirit of gift or of theft, has never been more important.Because we need a politics of kindness, but the very opposite is on the rise. Libertarian fascism, with its triumphal brutalism, its racism and misogyny - a politics that loathes the living world.Because nature is not a hobby. It is the life on which we depend, as Indigenous societies have never forgotten.Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars, and they are lining up now to write rebellion across the skies.From the author of Wild, this passionate, poetic manifesto for urgent rebellion is also a paean to the deep and extraordinary beauty of the natural world.'Jay's writing has reduced me to hot throbs of grief; through beauty and subtlety, to the depths of the hurt of these times . . . and what a liberation to express this, to free the space in my chest to feel the love that propels me forwards' Gail Bradbrook'Chewy, erudite, filled with swing: this is a dazzling book, urgent without ever being worthy, a book that crackles. Why Rebel is a Tardis, to read it is to enter the massive, a deep interior that hydrates vocation in a time of trouble' Martin Shaw'This short book is beautifully written, and packs a powerful emotional punch. I found myself welling up as I reached the end. At this desperate moment in human history, Why Rebel is surely part of the wake-up call we need' Prof. Rupert Read'There's a book called Life and Fate and in it, it says that when surrounded by death and destruction the most human thing to do is to engage in an act of kindness. Jay's book is such an act' Roger Hallam

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