Events in February 2017

I have a few more events lined up. Two talks for two new Modernist Societies for starters, in Liverpool and Sheffield, and part of a panel discussion at the Royal Academy in London, on everyday modernism.

Ten Buildings that Changed Postwar Britain

Join John Grindrod author of Concretopia and publisher of Dirty Modern Scoundrel for his talk on Ten Buildings that Changed Postwar Britain.

How did blitzed, slum-ridden and crumbling 'austerity Britain' became, in a few short years, a space-age world of concrete, steel and glass? Discover the story of Britan's postwar rebuilding in this whistle-stop tour of ten extraordinary, brilliant or downright bizarre buildings that represent the story of this turbulent period of our history, from 1945 to 1979.

Travel from the days of prefabs and the birth of the Welfare State through to the concrete brutalism and ambitious plans that changed towns and cities up and down the country. John Grindrod is the author of Concretopia, a witty and revealing history of our postwar rebuilding, described by the Independent on Sunday as 'a new way of looking at modern Britain.'

Liverpool
Thursday, February 2, 2017, 6:30pm 8:00pm.
Lecture room 1, Art and Design Academy Mount Pleasant Liverpool L3 5RD
Cost: £5 non members. £4 Modernist Society members and concessions. 

Sheffield  
Thursday, February 9, 2017, 6:00pm 8:00pm.
Arts Tower, Bolsover Street, Sheffield, S3 7NA 
Event is free to attend but you need to register here. 

I also have a completely different event lined up for the Royal Academy:

Royal Academy, London

Monday 20 February 2017, 6.30 – 8pm

Geological Society, Piccadilly, W1.

Panel discussion, Everyday Modernism, with me, Ben Highmore, Joe Kerr and Penny Sparke.

You can book tickets here.

Think of postwar Modernism and images of monumental buildings inevitably come to mind. However, there were also figures working to introduce architectural modernity on a more approachable scale: the artists who illustrated Ladybird books, for instance, and the designers who created the first chain pubs. By expanding our focus to incorporate these minor modernisms we can develop a more holistic understanding of the period and move beyond the canonisation of certain buildings as icons to picture a more vibrant, living modernity.

This does not mean abandoning a critical approach to production at the other end of the scale. Instead we should ask whether, in making Modernism available for domestic consumption, these pioneers were forced to compromise with the world that it was meant to change – or did they smuggle radical ideas into everyday life, transforming it more effectively than any bombastic building or high-minded polemic ever could?

Please come, it would be great to see you!