The Twentieth Century Society Blog
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The Twentieth Century Society exists to safeguard the heritage of architecture and design in Britain from 1914 onwards.
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
4M ago
Compiled by her friends Bob Stanley (journalist, author, film producer and member of the indie band Saint Etienne), David Trevor Jones, Emily Gee, Paul Stirner and Jon Wright, C20 Society presents a special musical accompaniment to this months Remembering Elain Harwood event at the Southbank Centre.
Spanning punk, post-punk, folk, art rock and african music, the playlist features many of Elain’s favourite tracks and shows her taste in music was just as eclectic as that in buildings! Click the player below and drop the stylus for 3+ hours of sonic exploration.
Musical recollections
Davi ..read more
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
7M ago
As the growing crisis around RAAC concrete in schools and public buildings dominates the national news, Catherine Croft provides a handy explainer on this widely used post-war building material.
Any situation which might cause the sudden collapse of a building is clearly enormously concerning, and the safety of people must be the top priority. There is an urgent need to understand where RAAC was used, to examine whether or not it is now failing in each case, and then work out how best to repair or replace every building which requires urgent attention.
We don’t know yet if any of the schools ..read more
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
1y ago
Decommissioned in 1983, the fight to save Battersea Power Station has been one of C20’s longest running cases.
Image: Wilkinson Eyre
Catherine Croft | C20 Director
One of the most expensive, ambitious and longest running C20 conservation cases the UK has ever seen is finally crossing the finish line. Battersea Power Station closed in 1983 and is at long last open to the public, and I’ve been along to check it out. C20 Society campaigned for literally decades to keep the sadly decaying building in the public eye, to see off numerous highly destructive proposals for the main structure itself ..read more
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
2y ago
CC BY-SA 3.0
Interesting to see The Daily Mirror picking up on a story in the Liverpool Echo about the “’Legoland’ estate which went from dream to nightmare in only 15 years”. Noted for its “strange ‘washing machine’ porthole windows,” this was James Stirling’s Southgate Estate in Runcorn New Town (Cheshire).
Both newspapers finish up saying “While Southgate may have been short lived, photos from this bold architectural project still prompt debate over the decision to eradicate such a striking housing development.” Wow—that feels almost enthusiastic, or am I getting over excited ..read more
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
2y ago
On the occasion of the release of the paperback version of Shelley Klein’s book The See-Through House published by @vintagebooks, we are delighted to be offering free copies of the book to three, randomly selected, lucky winners from our members and supporters..
To enter the giveaway: head over to one of our social media channels and simply tag a friend who also likes C20 architecture and design in our Instagram or Facebook comment fields of the posts about the giveaway or retweet our tweet about it.
The draw will take place in one week from today. Good luck!
NOTE: the giveaway is organ ..read more
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
2y ago
Piccadilly during lockdown
John East
Know someone who loves C20 architecture and design? We are launching a new member offer that gives you the chance to nominate a friend to become a C20 Society member and both of you will receive 2 free tickets to an upcoming C20 Society lecture, tour or walk or a C20 Journal from our archive.
To enter, your friend should simply state your name and membership number in the comments box when they join. Example: ‘Nominated by member John Smith, no 12345’.
We will then email you both saying that we have received your friend’s nominated membership and ask you ..read more
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
2y ago
São Paolo Museum of Art by Lina Bo Bardi, 1958-1958
We are pleased to announce the theme of Autumn Lectures Series, starting October 21st: Mid-Century Modern.
Save the dates: lectures will take place on Thursdays at 6.30pm on 21st October, 28th October, 4th November, 11th November, 18th November, 25th November, 2nd December.
Alan Powers, who has convened the series, writes, ‘Depending on how far you stretch it, the term covers a broad slice of time. Does it mean anything special in terms of twentieth century architecture? Listening to our online lecture series this autumn, you may disco ..read more
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
3y ago
Photo: The Christie Archive Trust
The Isokon Gallery’s Agatha Christie and the Modernist War Years exhibition runs until the end of Octobe 2022.
Leafing through the Lawn Road Flats’ tenants’ list for the year 1941, a new entry appears for Flat 20: “Mr and Mrs Mallowan”. Although registered under her married name, Mrs Mallowan was perhaps better known as Agatha Christie, the best-selling novelist of all time. The six years between 1941 and 1947 Christie spent living in the Hampstead flats, were amongst the most productive of her career. It was here in 1946 that she wrote the radio play which ..read more
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
3y ago
Turning Forms (1950)
Barbara Hepworth © Bowness
Photo: Barney Hindle
An unusual concrete sculpture by Barbara Hepworth has been painstakingly restored and will feature in a forthcoming exhibition at the Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield.
Turning Forms was the first work that Barbara Hepworth made in concrete. It sat on a slowly rotating plinth, outside The Thameside restaurant, at the main South Bank Festival of Britain site, completing one stately revolution every two minutes. The restaurant was designed by Jane Drew (as partner in the firm Maxwell Fry & Jane Drew), who was an admirer of Hep ..read more
The Twentieth Century Society Blog
3y ago
Keeping the lights on for Brutalism
Credit: Brutwax
Brutwax, a London based company, creating hand-poured candles and other products with a focus on Brutalist aesthetics have announced that they will be donating 10% of their profits to C20 Society. We would like to thank Jamie and his team for considering C20’s casework as a cause to support. He has said: “we are incredibly proud to support C20 Society to help conserve the worlds irreplaceable Brutalist treasures. By committing to this, we attempt to help protect the very thing that inspired the product.” Their products take inspiration fro ..read more