Atlas of Brutalist Architecture: Classic format

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As well as housing many businesses and some of the city's best graffiti, it offers great shelter when waiting for the bus in the rain!"

The Rotunda is part commercial space and part residential space situated in the Bullring Shopping Centre. Like many post-war buildings around Birmingham it has a retro-futuristic feel about it. Even now, it almost feels like an alien spaceship has made its permanent home in the centre of town! Some of Birmingham’s lesser-known post-war churches are also featured, including St. Thomas More Church in Sheldon, St. Matthews Church Perry Beeches, and Our Lady Help of Christians in Tile Cross. What a great way to explore Birmingham's modernist heritage. This kaleidoscopic tour of buildings and public art past and present is a celebration of extraordinary mid-twentieth century creativity and a plea for the city to appreciate its remarkable built landscape. A treasure for anyone who loves mid-century design, brutalist architecture and urban exploration.” Inside the library was a bit of a maze, bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside, but it managed to maintain a welcoming and cosy atmosphere that you'd want from your local library."

It has been replaced by a load of tat,” says Keating, referring to the insipid mixed-use development designed by Glenn Howells, inaccurately named Paradise. “It’s all cladding and glass. It could be anywhere in the world. The city is destroying a period of our heritage that is so particular to Birmingham, for this featureless rubbish.”

Brutalist architecture is more popular now than it has ever been. Imposing and dramatic, with monolithic concrete exteriors, it forms an enduring part of our post-war urban landscape. This beautifully photographed book is an authoritative survey of the finest British examples from the very late 1950s to the 1970s, from leading architectural writer Elain Harwood, following on from her acclaimed books on art deco and mid-century architecture. Birmingham: The Brutiful Years puts the spotlight on the city’s often under-appreciated post-war architecture, with striking images alongside essays on some of Birmingham’s most iconic locations, as well as some of its lesser-known modernist gems.

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A beautifully designed book that gives Birmingham brutalism a distinctive identity that I hadn’t really appreciated until I saw it all together." New York Times Best Art Book of 2018 - "Newcomers will discover the global influence of brutalism, that final age of civic architectural ambition; true believers can use it to prepare years of concrete-coated vacations."— The New York Times This is the only book to thoroughly document the world's finest examples of Brutalist architecture. More than 850 buildings - existing and demolished, classic and contemporary - are organized geographically into nine continental regions.

Many of the buildings featured in the book continue to be under threat, but Sutton believes it is important that they are preserved. News about our Dezeen Awards programme, including entry deadlines and announcements. Plus occasional updates. Dezeen Events GuideCorporation Square (or The Square) is externally a 'no frills' type of building, but is great in terms of spatial design. It houses many small eateries, independent shops, an indoor market and a music venue called The Ballroom – previously named The Hummingbird and also The Carling Academy. From 20th century masters to contemporary architects, much-loved masterpieces in the UK and USA sit alongside lesser-known examples in Europe, Asia, Australia, and beyond - 102 countries in all. Spaghetti Junction, the Ringway Centre, The Rotunda and Corporation Square all feature, alongside Brutalist buildings such Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the Ashley and Strathcona Buildings at Birmingham University, and Neville House on Harborne Road.