Brutalism is an architectural movement that has always fascinated architectural photographer Joas Souza, especially once he moved to the UK where he had the opportunity to personally contemplate a variety of buildings resulting from this movement. He always had a strong desire to photograph “béton brut” projects, given the monochrome colours and the prolific use of geometric shapes.
"Unfortunately, there is almost no demand from the architectural industry for photographs of such projects. In fact, many of the projects have already been earmarked to be demolished to make space for the new modern architecture. Given these facts, I decided to hurry and turn this desire to portray this architectural movement into a personal project."
He chose two great iconic projects of Brutalist architecture in London, the Barbican Estate by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon and the Balfron Tower + Carradale House complex by Ernő Goldfinger.
"When portraying the Barbican, my eyes searched for the details, the structure, rather than attempting to photograph the estate as a whole. The absence of colour sharpens my eyes to capture even more, the design, the texture of the raw concrete, the graphism created not only by the design itself but for the curious shadows that such design creates once it is reached by the sun light, changing the landscape at all times. This project was completed last year, resulting in great images that illustrate, in all its splendour, the most beautiful part of this movement."
The whole collection can be seen on his website www.joasphotographer.com
He is now looking for sponsors and exhibition space - if you can help please get in touch!
Barbican Estate Photos
click here to view full collection
Balfron Tower Photos
click here to view full collection
