Concrete Asia

A fresh look at the concrete buildings that defined Asia’s modernization, brought together here for the first time in a continent-wide survey.

Concrete Asia presents more than 200 buildings and structures erected across thirteen Asian countries between the 1950s and 1990s. As architects in the region embraced the progressive language of Modernism, they adapted it to local climates, materials and social conditions. The result is architecture that is distinctly modern but also radical, often wildly decorative, idiosyncratic and ultimately a joy to look at. These are exactly the sorts of buildings that jaded architecture enthusiasts obsess over, and which other Brutalist architecture surveys have largely ignored. However, as they make way for today’s steel-and-glass structures, the threat of their demolition has spurred the ground-up growth of online communities seeking to record these pioneering concrete buildings.

The buildings have been selected and specially photographed by contributors from across the region. Chosen for both formal ambition and historical significance, each national selection is introduced by Justin Zhuang, who situates the projects within their cultural and political context.