Concrete Jungle: Tropical Architecture and its Surprising Origins

Concrete Jungle presents some of the most exciting tropical houses and tells the surprising story of lush modernist architecture.

The clash of rational architecture with the organic lushness of tropical vegetation has created some of the most visionary and futuristic buildings we know.

Based on the concepts of Modernist style and Bauhaus aesthetics, tropical countries like Brazil or Mexico have developed their highly unique visions of an international style and architecture which is both timeless and desirable, which continues to be highly influential around the globe.

In Concrete Jungle we embark on a journey through the works of architects influenced by the tropical modernist style, from Luis Barragán to Paulo Mendes da Rocha, to Marcio Kogan.

Combine concrete's stoicism with luscious vegetative environments and you get to the language of tropical modernism. In continuity with its founding principles from the mid-20th century, today's architectural visionaries renew the use of raw materials, such as exposed concrete, to explore functionality rather than aesthetics. No matter if works are created in total symbiosis with the tropical landscape or surrounded by flourishing nature, Concrete Jungle presents the dichotomy of the rough material being softened by interaction with the interior and exterior. When gray meets green a never-ending range of impressions awakens