These photographs combine documentary, aesthetic and abstract elements to provide us with a new perspective on brutalist buildings. The title of the exhibition also addresses this contradictory understanding and contrasts with Barr's rich and poetic images.
Monsters: Fragments of Stuttgart Brutalism was commissioned by the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (ABK) under the direction of Marianne Mueller and AM Constantin Hörburger. Barr’s photographs show a selection of lesser-known brutalist buildings from the 1960s and 1970s in the Greater Stuttgart area. They document residential complexes, administration and university buildings, churches and community centres fifty years after their construction.
The photographs were taken while Sue Barr was Head of Photography at the Architectural Association (AA) as a continuation of the research themes she explores in both her teaching and her personal photographic practice. Marianne Mueller, who previously taught a unit at the AA, also led the AA Berlin Laboratory Visiting School and the Concrete Geometries Research Cluster. While this project is situated in Stuttgart, this collaboration has its origins at the AA. By re-exhibiting these images on the corner of Bedford Square, we hope they will encourage visitors to draw parallels between brutalism across different international contexts, and reflect on London’s own rich brutalist heritage.
Image: St Monika © Sue Barr
Credits
Photography: Sue Barr
Pavilion Design: Sarah Maria Elisabeth Gerdiken
Construction: Install Archive
Structural Engineering: London Structures Lab
Graphic Design: AA Communications Studio
Exhibition Realisation: AA Public Programme
Financial support: Ministry of Science, Research and Arts Baden-Württemberg, The Architectural Association School of Architecture
