These 19 Striking Buildings Exemplify the Best of Brutalist Design Around the Globe

Like Unité d'Habitation, the Habitat 67 complex in Montreal was developed as a solution for affordable housing in urban areas. Moshe Safdie designed it as an interconnected web of 354 apartments that make up 158 residential buildings.

London is considered ground zero for brutalism as the British capital suffered major devastation during World War II and needed to provide low-cost housing for its growing population. Trellick Tower was designed by Hungarian-born architect Ernő Goldfinger whose unconventional design includes a separate elevator and service tower connected to the main building by access corridors at every third floor.

Designed by architect Denys Lasdun in 1976, the Royal National Theater's brutalist building has been dividing the public pretty much ever since it opened its doors. Even the Prince of Wales once said that the structure represented a "clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London without anyone objecting." But fans of the building point out that Lasdun has cleverly broken up the massive concrete complex by incorporating open-air public spaces into the design where people can congregate, and in this way, the building doesn't feel as overwhelming.

University of San Diego's Geisel Library is one of the most prominent examples of brutalism on this side of the Atlantic. Designed by architect William Pereira in 1970, it is named after Theodor Seuss Geisel (yes, that would be Dr. Seuss) and its unique shape represents a hand holding a stack of books.

While it has its opponents, the nine-story building of Boston's town hall is, to this day, one of the most important brutalist landmarks in the U.S. Conceived by Gerhard Kallmann and Michael McKinnell, the structure looks as if it’s upside-down and has a grid-like design reminiscent of Le Corbusier's architectural style.

The Barbican complex consists of the London Museum, the Barbican Public Library, the Barbican Arts Centre, and several high-rise residential towers. Architectural company Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, who designed the series of buildings, were inspired by Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation project in Marseille and wanted to create "vertical cities" out of concrete.

The Hill of Buddha in Sapporo proves that brutalism continues to influence modern architecture. Designed in 2015 by Tadao Ando, it represents a giant 44-foot high stone statue of Buddha that is partially hidden in a brutalist temple. The hill that envelops the statue was artificially created for the project and planted with 150,000 lavenders that turn purple in the summer.

As is the case with most brutalist buildings, Marcel Breuer's inverted ziggurat structure in New York City was not met with admiration when it opened its doors in 1966 at the Whitney Museum of American Art. But the modernist building grew on New Yorkers and is now considered one of Breuer's most iconic works.

Eastern Europe and the countries from the former Soviet Union are heaven for fans of brutalism. One of the most popular structures is the Western City Gate, or Gemex Tower, in Belgrade. It was built in 1977 and represents a massive gateway-like structure meant to greet visitors of Belgrade. It consists of two towers linked by a bridge and topped by a revolving restaurant. 

Brazil is home to some of the most striking examples of brutalist architecture. The SESC Pompéia is a cultural center built on the site of a factory at the beginning of the 1980s. Its architect, Italian-born Lina Bo Bardi, repurposed some of the existing spaces and had new ones built to create a concrete complex of towers linked by aerial walkways.

While a lot of brutalist buildings in the former Soviet Union were either demolished after 1989 or abandoned, the Jenga-like edifice of the Bank of Georgia in Tbilisi had a much different fate. Designed in 1975 by George Tschachawa and Zurab Dschalagonia, the building first housed the Ministry of Highway Construction. The structure is partly lifted from the ground to allow nature to grow around and under it. The 18-story concrete building was declared a national monument in 2007 and became the Bank of Georgia's headquarters.

This UFO-like building in the coastal town of Yalta in Ukraine is actually a health spa that dates back to 1986. Its architect, Igor Vasilevsky, drew inspiration from time machines and flying saucers. And while the architecture may seem a little unusual for a spa, it allowed guestrooms to have private balconies with fantastic views over the Black Sea.

Our nation's capital is full of brutalist architecture. One of the most impressive and visited buildings is the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, located steps away from the National Mall. The museum is named after Joseph Hirshhorn, a Latvian immigrant who donated his extensive modern art collection and funded the museum's construction as a way to thank the United States for the opportunities it had afforded him. The structure is in the shape of a perfect cylinder sitting atop four large pillars.

The most important and outstanding example of brutalist architecture in Washington D.C. is actually underground. The entire Metro system of the capital is a brutalist landmark. The stations feature exposed concrete walls and waffle-like vaulted ceilings—a design so impressive that it won the American Institute of Architects's Twenty-Five Year award in 2014.

Designed by Le Corbusier, this building had to be visually appealing and had to take into account the extreme weather this part of India was accustomed to during certain months of the year—namely heavy monsoon rains and scorching sun. As a result, the structure has a double roof that shades the entire building from rain and heat. Le Corbusier also incorporated his signature bold-colored panels in the design.

The University of Toronto's Robarts Library is a 16-story concrete behemoth, considered one of the greatest masterpieces of brutalist architecture in North America. The structure, when looked at from above, has the shape of an equilateral triangle. The triangular motif is actually incorporated throughout the entire building, including its ceilings and bay windows.

One of Le Corbusier's most well-known buildings, this chapel in France's northeast is relatively small, but it packs quite the architectural punch. The concrete structure's most notable feature is its upturned roof supported by four columns directly embedded into the walls.

This apartment building in the Rocks neighborhood of Sydney overlooks the harbor and offers some beautiful vistas. The structure, designed in 1980 by Tao Gofers, is comprised of stacked concrete boxes in the shape of a pyramid. The edifice narrowly survived demolition in 2019 when the state government sold it to a private company for $150 million.

Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza's Torre Blancas is a masterpiece of organicism and the brutalist movement that has been part of Madrid's skyline since 1969. The concrete tower's design was inspired by the shape of a tree and features more cylindrical shapes than it does linear—a novelty at the time.