Sydney Brutalism

Sydney has some of the world's best examples of brutalist architecture. Heidi Dokulil explores these brutal beauties.

While modernism is much celebrated, there's a growing appreciation for the latter years of the movement when Sydney architects and their international peers experimented with raw concrete and brick and brutalism was born. In this first comprehensive book on the subject, design writer Heidi Dokulil explores brutalism in Sydney, its arrival in the late 1960s, its international influences, its architects, builders, residents and materials, and the government buildings, social housing, university campus buildings and private homes that changed the face of the city.

The outcry over the threatened demolition of the Sirius building in Millers Point and the associated Save Our Sirius campaign has generated a new interest in these brutal beauties of Australian architecture. Yet many brutalist buildings have been demolished and others are under threat. Dokulil reveals the stories behind these bold and experimental buildings, as well as the contemporary buildings -- and their architects and owners -- that brutalism continues to inspire.