Brutalist churches scattered around the world are more like huge, embedded dolmens or giant fragments of a fallen meteorite. These ten buildings from our selection are considered to be the modern rethinking of medieval gothic cathedrals and one of the most vivid examples of the compound of the earth and spiritual.
1. Church of Our Lady Rosary in Madrid
Brutalism in pure form. It is a stone sculpture located on Konda de Penyalver Street in Salamanca, the metropolitan area of Madrid, is a temple designed from 1967 to 1970. "The temple speaks in the Le Corbusier language, here the same stylistic techniques are used as, for example, in the project of the Assembly Palace in Chandigarch," Architects are told Carlos Coperton and Patci Eguliz.
2. Brick Temple in Austria
This concrete structure was built in 1976 by Fritz Vanruboy on the outskirts of Vienna. Veruba was actually a sculptor, and this can be seen by how skillfully placed 152 concrete blocks of the wrong shape. According to the author, he was inspired by the Charther Cathedral in France, and although the deputy chief is much more modern (the Charther Cathedral was erected in the XII century), his architecture seems to be more like a neolithic.
3. The Sanctuary of Arancass in the Basque Country
This is an incredible abbey that can be considered a sample of brutalism, should be a mandatory place of pilgrimage for all lovers of architecture and art. It was designed in the 1950s by Saes de Oince and Louis Laorg with the participation of the Basque sculptor Jorge Otits (his work decorates the main facade). But this is not all: the artist Lucio Munos painted apse, Eduardo Chilide worked on the main entrance doors, and the artist Nestor Basketreksea decorated the walls of the crypt - the list can be complemented and complemented.
4. Church of San Giovanni Bono in Milan
In 1968, when the new district of Sant-Ambrokho was attached to the capital of Italy, it was decided to build a new church. Building commissioned Arrigo Arrygetti architect. To break the installed canons, the author of the project posted a modern pyramid from an open concrete in the city, and the church was a sharp ledge, which seems to concern the sky.
5. Church of the Holy Spirit in Switzerland
Information about this brutalist church is a bit: it was built in 1967 Roland Hanselman and Swiss industrial engineer Heinz Isler. The concrete temple is striking with its architecture. Keep in mind that work with subtle concrete shells is the specialization of Islera. And although this is not the most famous job, it deserves your attention.
6. Cathedral of the Virgin in Germany
This monumental church from concrete and wood was designed by the German laureate of Pritzker Gottfried Bem in the 1960s, in the early 1970s its construction was completed, and since then the Cathedral of the Virgin Music is a mandatory place to visit every believer, traveling in West Germany. The position of the chief architect had to compete: to develop a new shrine project, Cardinal-Archbishop Josef Freings invited 17 architects. The BEM plan turned out to be the best, and the Cathedral became one of his greatest works.
7. Liverpool Metropoli Cathedral
The cathedral was designed by Frederick Gibberd and was built between 1962 and 1967. The main material of the building was the traditional portland stone for the UK, but the plan of the cathedral turned out to be unusual: his circular structure and spiers on top give him an almost extraordinary look.
8. Catholic Church of San Anselmo in Japan
In the 1950s, the Christian Temple on the project of the architect Antonina Rimoni appeared in Tokyo. The building consists of nine pairs of hollow concrete columns and the same amount of beams, and the light penetrates through the slots between the columns is an excellent example of brutalism.
9. Saint Sebastian Cathedral in Rio de Janeiro
St. Sebastian Cathedral is a multistage pyramid (inspired by the Pyramids of Central America, not Egypt), designed by Edgar Fonsekoy. The building was erected in 1979 and became one of the most visited structures of Brazil. Inside the cathedral is impressive no less than outside.
10. Church of the Virgin Mary Miraculor in Mexico
This work of Felix Kandela replenished the list of unusual concrete structures Mexico City. It is based on "hyperbolic paraboloids", from the inside reminiscent of the inverted, slightly open umbrellas.
First published in Spanish Architectural Digest.