Raphael Selby

• International Brutalism – ‘Brazilian Concrete’ and Brutalist Architecture
• MArch Architecture

The research is centred on the current discussions on cultural heritage and importance of brutalist architecture in Britain and around the world, with focus on the Brazilian context. These buildings, loved or hated, are of great architectural importance from 1950s-1980s.

In my research I analysed specific brutalist buildings in Brazil (a country with a rich heritage in concrete architecture) and held interviews with academics and architects, to formulate an understanding of the importance of brutalism in the Brazilian context, and how it adds to the discourse of ‘International Brutalism’.

From the field study it was clear that key characteristics of Brazilian Brutalism are its material and structural honesty (the way the building’s construction is visually expressed); an interplay between monumentality and the human scale; and an integration of public space which creates a blurring of public/private space and inside/outside space.

Please visit my research blog www.brazilianconcrete.wordpress.com for further information.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Supervisor: Dr Stephen Parnell