In person: Connecting the Nation: A History of the Telephone Exchange Building
Connecting the Nation: Telephone Exchange Buildings Lecture
Monday 25 November 2024 at 6.30pm
The Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EJ
A lecture by Lisa Kinch, PhD student at Lancaster University, on the architectural history of the UK’s telephone exchange buildings and how they embody the changing relationships between 'official’ architecture, technology and the state.
Lisa will trace the architectural and technological developments from the opening of Europe’s first telephone exchange in 1879, through the creation of Britain’s first nationalised industry, war-time constraints, network expansion, automation, and privatisation, to the present day and the fast-approaching closure of the public switched telephone network, which will make the majority of the UK’s 5,600 telephone exchanges redundant.
Since the end of the Second World War, the telephone exchange building has evolved from a civic edifice to a more discrete and efficient type of building. The history of these ubiquitous buildings has not yet been recorded, but ongoing research is uncovering some of their historic and architectural values.
Lisa Kinch is an architect and PhD Student at Lancaster University, where she is researching the history of post-war telephone exchange buildings and the relationships between ‘official’ architecture, technology and the state.
In Person: C20 Society Members £10; Non-Members £15; Young C20 member + guest Free*; Student + guest £5 **.
*For Young C20 members, please email coordinator@c20society.org.uk to secure a place.
**For student pricing please select from the dropdown option next to 'membership number' on the booking form below.
Includes a glass of wine
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Note: This event is hybrid and is being run both in-person at Cowcross Street Gallery and online via Zoom. The event will be recorded and offered as a catch-up lecture for those who have booked and will be available for two weeks.
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The Twentieth Century Society is an IHBC (Institute of Historic Building conservation) recognised CPD provider.
The Twentieth Century Society is a registered charity, no 1110244
Newcastle Telephone Exchange – Thomas Feed Winterburn, 1969-72. Credit: Lisa Kinch
THIS BOOKING IS FOR AN IN-PERSON TICKET ONLY (COWCROSS STREET GALLERY)