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Brutalism explained - the Barbican from lakeside

Brutalism explained - the Barbican from lakeside

Palace of Culture and Science, from our hotel wind

Palace of Culture and Science, from our hotel window, described when it was completed in 1955 as a ‘gift’ from the Soviet Union to the Polish people, however the locals described their gift somewhat differently, with the nickname ‘Stalin’s syringe’.

The Temple of Monte Grisa sits high above the city

The Temple of Monte Grisa sits high above the city of Trieste, a brutalist church dedicated to the Madonna. Inaugurated in 1966, the architect Antonio Guacci imaginatively created a honeycomb like design repeated constantly throughout the site.

Described early on as a national monument more than a local endeavour, its location had an explicitly political aspect, built on the mountainside on a site which allowed it to be seen beyond Italy’s border by its neighbour Yugoslavia. Guacci was said to have been inspired by the sketches of the politically savvy Antonio Santin who had been appointed Bishop of Trieste in 1938 following on from several years in Croatia. He remained in post throughout the war and beyond. Born in the Austrian-Hungarian empire in what is today Croatia, by the time he was ordained as a priest in 1918 the repercussions of the collapse of empire was clearly felt. ‘Hapsburg Trieste’ became part of modern Italy. Santin witnessed the birth of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia seismic shifts in the region were taking place. Concerns about the impact of Tito’s Communist Yugoslavia would have played a role in the decision to build, at the height of the Cold War.

The geopolitical landscape changed on the 27th April 1992, when the communist government in Yugoslavia was dissolved.

Photo with thanks to Justine Gomez

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