Brutal Wales by Simon Phipps

After Brutal London and Brutal North, comes a major new title in Simon Phipps’ bestselling Brutalist series; a photographic exploration of modernist Wales.

‘In their bold imagination and visionary execution [these buildings] help connect us to a period in our history that is all too easily overlooked and neglected – the recent past.’ John Gringrod, Introduction to Brutal Wales

Featuring over 60 extraordinary buildings, this new book of powerful architectural photography, includes many lesser-known examples of Welsh Modernist architecture. From an unnamed electricity substation in Swansea and the sculptural Margam Crematorium to rare internal views of the Trostre steelworks and filmic shots of the undercroft of the George Street Bridge in Newport, this is an evocative exploration of the post-war vision for Wales.

John Gringrod’s introductory essay brings an architectural and historical perspective on the nature of Welsh Modernism and its effect on the nation’s towns and landscapes. University of South Wales’s professor of photography Mark Durden sees Phipps’ photography as part of a lineage of photographers paying tribute to the labour and artistry of this richly textured, but often overlooked, architecture.

Beautifully designed by Marc Jennings with Welsh and English language text throughout, the book’s release coincides with a collaborative exhibition between Swansea Museum and Simon Phipps.

‘They are fragments from another age, but in their modernity contain the stirrings of change that foreshadow devolution, an even grander project that would only come to pass some decades later.’ John Gringrod, Introduction to Brutal Wales

‘Phipps’ photography provides a much-needed extensive document of the abundance and richness of an often unfeted and unseen architecture, integral to the hope and social vision that characterised the golden age of Britain’s post-war modernism.’ Mark Durden, After Modernism

Simon Phipps is available for interview or collaboration.