Italian photographer Stefano Perego has released "Concrete, mon amour: The Raw Imprint of Modernism," a comprehensive photographic study documenting modernist concrete architecture across the globe. The ambitious project spans 98 buildings located in 29 countries, captured over a ten-year period from 2015 to 2025. The book explores the formal and material language of concrete structures built during the mid-to-late 20th century, focusing on monolithic constructions that reflect the architectural ambitions and ideological shifts of that era.
Perego employs a deliberately raw visual approach throughout the publication, emphasizing the expressive geometries, surface textures, and spatial presence of these concrete buildings. His subjects range from prominent urban landmarks to isolated architectural outposts, each photographed in its current state regardless of preservation condition. The book includes notable structures such as the Medical center in Budapest, Hungary, designed by architect Ágoston Miklós in 1981, and the Johannes XXIII church in Cologne, Germany, created by architect Heinz Buchmann and sculptor Josef Rikus in 1968.
The publication takes an egalitarian approach to its subjects, organizing buildings without privileging fame or recognition. Instead, Perego offers a broad perspective on how concrete was utilized to shape various environments including civic, religious, residential, and infrastructural spaces. Each structure appears as it exists today, whether well-preserved or visibly weathered, providing visual insights into the endurance and evolution of these architectural forms over time.
Beyond documenting aesthetic qualities, "Concrete, mon amour" interrogates the layered meanings embedded within these constructions. Some buildings appear as enduring symbols of progressive vision, while others reveal associations with political power and cultural transformation. The book presents concrete not merely as a material choice but as a medium of expression that is simultaneously brutal and intentional, utilitarian and sculptural.
The photographic study features diverse religious architecture, including the St. Joseph Church in Vilnius, Lithuania, designed by architects Marius Šaliamoras, Kęstutis Akelaitis and Gintaras Čaikauskas between 2016-2020, and the Saint Nicholas church in Hérémence, Switzerland, created by architect Walter Maria Förderer from 1962-1971. These examples demonstrate the continued use of concrete in contemporary architectural practice while maintaining connections to modernist principles.
Perego ultimately highlights the complexity of modernist legacies, examining how the permanence of concrete continues to prompt reflection on the ideals, ambitions, and contradictions embedded within the built environment. The publication serves as both a visual archive and an invitation to reconsider the impact and relevance of architectural modernism in today's context, offering viewers a chance to reassess these monumental structures and their ongoing influence on our urban landscapes.
