Brutalist Britain is shortlisted for the SAHGB Colvin Prize

We’re delighted to announce that Brutalist Britain has been shortlisted in the SAHGB Colvin Prize 2024!

The SAHGB Colvin Prize celebrates outstanding works of reference in architectural history. Its 2024 shortlist features this fascinating look into an architectural era so fundamental to Britain’s post-war landscape, written by the late Elain Harwood and published in collaboration with Twentieth Century Society.

More about Brutalist Britain.

Introducing Britain’s finest examples of brutalist architecture.

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.

It features iconic public buildings like London’s National Theatre, imposing housing such as the Trellick Tower in West London and Park Hill in Sheffield, great educational institutions including the University of Sussex, and places of worship such as Liverpool’s glorious Metropolitan Cathedral, along with some lesser-known buildings such as Arlington House on Margate’s sea front.

Headed up with an introduction that places British brutalism within the context of global events and contemporary world architecture, the huge range of buildings is arranged into Private Houses and Flats, Public Housing, Educational Buildings, Public Buildings, Shops, Markets and Town Centres, Culture and Sport, Places of Worship, Offices and Industry and Transport, and there is a chapter on the atmospheric brutalist sculptures and murals that dot our cities.

Brutalist Britain: Buildings of the 1960s and 1970s by Elain Harwood published by Batsford in association with Twentieth Century Society is available to purchase via our website and from all good booksellers.