There are about half a million listed buildings in England – but only a tiny fraction were built since 1945. Normally, a building has to be 30 years old to be considered for listing and it was actually 1987 before the first post-war building gained protection, reports the BBC.
From large public buildings to sprawling private homes of concrete and glass, English Heritage is celebrating post-war era architecture with its exhibition Brutal and Beautiful: Saving the 20th Century. Take a look at some of the striking images featured, with curator Elain Harwood.
Post-war Buildings film – link
Brutal and Beautiful: Saving the 20th Century is open until 24 November 2013 at Wellington Arch in central London.
e-architect have some classic Modern Buildings online, such as Mies van der Rohe’s Tugendhat Villa & Barcelona Pavilion, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum, housing by Berthold Lubetkin and Le Corbusier’s Ville Savoie.
Another UK Post-war Buildings film link:
Coming to Terms with Modern Times: English architecture in the post-war era – Simon Thurley
Published on 5 Apr 2013
The Second World War intensified and magnified debates that had been current amongst architects since 1914. It also marks a fault line in English architectural history. Architects, supported by politicians, decisively moved away from tradition and sought to create a new language of architecture. Some loved it, but unfortunately the public grew to hate it.
Another UK Post-war Architecture film link:
Brutal & Beautiful: What is Brutalism?
Published on 25 Nov 2013
The Brutal and Beautiful exhibition takes its name from the term “New Brutalism,” a style coined by English architects Alison and Peter Smithson in 1953, “their phrase stood not for chunky concrete but for the use of natural materials honestly expressed, as was first seen in Derek Sugden’s house in Watford.” This short film also features the Grade *II listed Balfron Tower in London, designed by Ernő Goldfinger.
Modern Architecture – Major Modernist Buildings
Most of these Modern buildings exude purity – simple forms, floating planes / cantilevers, white facades, strip windows – typical of Modernist Architecture.
