Images of a ‘brutal’ legacy abound in Simon Phipps’ new tome

De Beauvoir Estate. Photograph: Simon Phipps

Momentum is growing to celebrate and preserve buildings that were previously written off as concrete monstrosities.

So says Simon Phipps, whose new book Brutal London is a photographic exploration of post-war modernist buildings that are often referred to by the moniker ‘brutalist’.

The book, which is arranged by London borough, hopes to cast the buildings in a new light.

“There can be something thrilling about the aggressive and brash vocabulary of board-marked concrete, exposed aggregate, hard-edged brick and heavy sectioned timber, the expressed palette which displays the truth of its materials and a disdain for the frivolous,” writes Phipps.

Classic examples of Brutalist buildings in London include the Balfron Tower in Poplar, the Brunswick Centre in Central London and the Trellick Tower in West London.

But Hackney also has its fair share of Brutalist buildings that feature in the book.

These include Clissold Park School (now Stoke Newington School), which was designed by Ralph Smorczewski and built from 1967–70.

Shoreditch Fire Station. Photograph: Simon Phipps

Smorczewski was a Polish Count who had fought with the resistance in the Warsaw Uprising during the Second World War, though his turbulent past is belied by the school’s restrained palette of textured concrete and brick, enhanced by strong detailing.

The book also includes black and white images of Shoreditch Fire Station, Lincoln Court and De Beauvoir Estate.

The Lockner Estate in De Beauvoir Town proved controversial when built because a line of Victorian Dutch-gabled houses were demolished in the late sixties to make way for it.

“On a sunny day, the brick arcades are patterned with sharply focused areas of shadow cast by the piers, making them strongly reminiscent of de Chirico’s metaphysical paintings,” writes Phipps.

Brutal London is published by September Publishing. RRP: £14.99. ISBN: 9781910463635