brutalist italy: roberto conte & stefano perego capture concrete monuments at berlin show

spotlighting italy’s brutalist heritage

Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego’s Brutalist Italy exhibition, following their publication of the same name, is now on view at the Italian Cultural Institute in Berlin. Over the last five years, the two photographers travelled over 20,000 kilometers across the Italian peninsula to document more than 100 Brutalist structures from the 1960s to the 1980s, from cemeteries and sanctuaries to port buildings and residential complexes.

Their work highlights how the architectural movement’s heritage in the country stands apart. Unlike the forward-looking Brutalism of other countries, Italian Brutalism acknowledges the past. As architectural historian Adrian Forty notes in the published text accompanying the exhibition, Italian architects embraced concrete as a medium that could embody both the past and the future, resisting the idea that modern materials should signify only progress.

all images by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego, unless stated otherwise

captured by roberto conte and stefano perego 

This interplay highlighted by Adrian Forty is evident in structures photographed by Roberto Conte (see more here) and Stefano Perogo (see more here), like the Monte Grisa Sanctuary in Trieste, a geometric mass perched above the Adriatic, evoking both a futuristic spacecraft and an ancient fortress. In Genoa, the infamous ‘Washing Machines’ residential blocks present a striking contradiction — at once utopian in scale and dystopian in their weathered, timeworn surfaces. Such buildings challenge the notion that Brutalism is purely an aesthetic of power or imposition.

The result of this field research is the book Brutalist Italy (FUEL publishing, 2023), featuring 146 photographs of over 100 Italian Brutalist buildings that invite a deeper appreciation of these structures as vital parts of Italy’s built heritage. The Berlin exhibition marks its first dedicated showcase.

Monumental Cemetery extension, Busto Arsizio, by Luigi Ciapparella

La Casa Del Portuale by Aldo Loris Rossi

Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego spotlight Italy’s Brutalist heritage

Brutalist Italy documents Brutalist structures from the 1960s to the 1980s

the two photographers travelled over five years and 20,000 kilometers across the country

the Berlin exhibition marks the first dedicated showcase of Brutalist Italy

the exhibition is accompanied by a publication of the same name

the buildings on view challenge the notion that Brutalism is purely an aesthetic of power or imposition

Adrian Forty’s written introduction speaks to how Italian Brutalism embraces the future while preserving the past

over 100 buildings were documented by the duo | image by Riccardo Malberti

the buildings extend from the Italian Alps to the Mediterranean Sea | image by Riccardo Malberti

the exhibition is on view at the Italian Cultural Institute in Berlin | image by Riccardo Malberti

project info:

name: Brutalist Italy

photographer: Roberto Conte | @ilcontephotography, and Stefano Perego

location: Italian Cultural Institute, Berlin, Germany

dates: 19th February — 30th April, 2025