Concrete Dreams & Forgotten Futures: Architectural Photos by Arnau Rovira

The Spomeniks are striking examples of brutalist architecture sprinkled across the landscapes of the former Yugoslavia. Built between the 1950s and 1980s to honor the partisan resistance during World War II, these memorials are bold and futuristic, often clashing with their picturesque surroundings and creating surreal visual statements in unexpected places. While they were meant to symbolize unity and resilience, today they stand like quiet specters of a future that never fully arrived.

Photographer Arnau Rovira, has captured the haunting beauty of these monuments, documenting their paradoxical existence. His series showcases the stark contrast between the hard, unyielding concrete of the Spomeniks and the natural beauty that surrounds them. Through his lens, Arnau illustrates how these monuments balance on the edge of time, mixing the nostalgia of the past with an eerie sense of unrealized potential.

If you’d like to discover the full series and learn more about Arnau Rovira’s work, check out his website.

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