'Brutalist Asia' is a richly illustrated journey into concrete’s overlooked influence on the east

If you follow the output of Blue Crow Media, the publisher of Brutalist Asia, there’s every chance that your bookshelves are starting to look suspiciously specialist. The London-based publishing house has carved a rock-solid niche in recent years as a chronicler of the global spread of brutalist architecture, selecting the very best bits of concrete and modernism for your aesthetic delectation.

Explore the delights of 'Brutalist Asia'

The latest tome to follow the trend is Brutalist Asia, put together by Bob Pang and Derek Lamberton and given a handsome design by regular collaborator Tuomi. Continuing the publisher’s current run of brutalist gazetteers (Paris, London and Berlin), the new book features 140 buildings across twenty-eight countries and over 300 pages.

Crucially, the book presents the origins and application of Asian Brutalism from a local point of view, rather than as a continuation of an imported style. The focus is on concrete architecture’s parallel evolution in response to local conditions and programmatic demands.

The book includes eight essays (by Christele Harrouk, Soroush Mohajery and Amirhosein Rad, Bhawna Dandona, Pinai Sirikiatikul, Caryn Paredes-Santillan, Bob Pang, Kyung Taek Lee and John Barr), all of which flesh out the regional context and role of the new architecture.

There are some Western pioneers here, naturally, including Paul Rudolph and the unavoidable Le Corbusier, but key local players are also featured front and centre. Architects like Balkrishna V. Doshi, Raj Rewal, Charles Correa, Kim Swoo Geun, and Leandro V. Locsin, as well as legions of little-known local practitioners, all bolster the evolution and impact of brutalist architecture across different cultures and political systems.

Environmental concerns, climatic challenges and concrete’s dynamic and shifting abilities are all given space. The result is a book that challenges preconceptions, highlights the overlooked and threatened and places Asian Brutalism in a new and more inclusive framework.

Sample spreads from 'Brutalist Asia'

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Brutalist Asia, £45, Blue Crow Media, BlueCrowMedia.com