About

HEARTBRUT

Heartbrut Heart Logo / © Heartbrut. Explore more on Heartbrut.com

We take a fresh look at brutalism and reinterpret its raw and real vibes for the here and now. Plain and simple. One post, one reel, one ride and one map at a time.

There’s a brutally beautiful world waiting. Let’s explore it together.

Karin / HEAD of HEARTBRUT

ABOUT US & OUR STORY

HEARTBRUT was founded in 2019 by writer and photographer Karin Bürki. Her mission: win hearts and minds for Switzerland’s concrete icons by making it easy and fun for everyone to rediscover them. Online and in print.

We started out with a series of postcards featuring brutalist beauties from London and Zurich. Our first (if somewhat unexpected) hit.

In 2020, Carte Brute was born. The idea: unite Switzerland’s super-diverse concrete beauties on a poster-sized, visually stunning map.

In 2022, HEARTBRUT began offering tours together with partners. In 2023 our Instagram account with +10K followers was hacked. Our new account is fully focused on Reels. Despite significantly fewer followers, we now generate many more interactions and sales.

For 2025 we have exciting offers, partnerships and publications in the pipeline.

Born and bred in Zurich, Karin spent her formative years in London. After graduating in Fine Art from Saint Martins College of Art & Design, the writer & photographer made her name with the photo blog PLAYLUST – a pun on Wanderlust and the pseudonym Play Hunter.

Karin’s signature razor-sharp style and refusal to choose between art, photography and media opened up new and singular playgrounds, ranging from the photography book “Now & Wow – A Style Hunter’s Book of Photographs”, a visiting lectureship at Zurich University of the Arts to various newspaper columns, exhibitions and business partnerships. Karin loves a crisp morning river swim in the Limmat.

Rebecca De Bautista is responsible for the visual concept and production of our Carte Brute maps. You can find her work here

For our Walks and Rides, we are currently teaming up with the following partners: VN RESIDENCY, OPEN HOUSE ZÜRICH, OPEN HOUSE BASEL

Milestones

Carte Brute Alpin, 2023

Carte Brute Basel, 2022

Carte Brute Zürich, 2021

Carte Brute Schweiz, 2020

Brutalist Beauties Postcards, 2018 –

Public and private guided brutalist tours in Zurich and Basel since 2022

Rides added in 2024

SRF, Expert opinion, Schweiz Aktuell, 2024

ART TV, Interview & feature, 2024

ARCHITEKTUR FILM TAGE ZÜRICH, Intro to Swiss Brutalism, 2023

SRF KULTUR, Radio feature & Interview, 2022

Carte Brute Alpin Launch Presentation, OKRO Gallery, Chur, 2023

“Gem or Eyesore?”, part of exhibition, Swiss Heritage Centre, Zurich, 2022-2024

Beton Blutt (Naked Concrete), Print Presentation, Print Matters, Zurich, 2019-2020

Heartbrut, Launching Exhibition, Kosmos, Zurich, 2019

Carte Brute edition included in Swiss National Library, 2024

Art Grant, Canton of Graubünden, 2023

Research Grant, Canton of Thurgau, 2021

Art Grant, City of St. Gallen, 2020

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