Modern Buildings in Soho & Mayfair: In the Footsteps of Ian Nairn
Modern Buildings in Soho & Mayfair: In Ian Nairn's Footsteps
Sunday 17 August 2025
Start time/place: 2.30pm/The Blue Posts, Berwick Street, Soho
Finish time/place: 4ish/The Red Lion, Duke St, St James’s (though usually closed on Sundays, The Chequers for any post-event drinks if etc)
The fearless architectural critic and broadcaster, Ian Nairn, briefly a familiar face on British television in the 1970s, succumbed to drink and despondency just ten days shy of his fifty-third birthday, dying on 14 August 1983.
But back in 1964 and at the height of his powers he authored, Modern Buildings in London, a brilliantly opinionated primer to the best of contemporary architecture in the capital that was issued by London Transport - and even sold from automatic vending machines in key London stations.
Join Travis Elborough, the award-winning author of the introduction to the latest edition of Modern Buildings in London, for this tour of some of the West End buildings that caught Nairn’s eye, including Denys Lasdun’s 26 St James’s Place and New Zealand House by Robert Matthew, Johnson Marshall & Partners (RMJM).
Travis Elborough was described by the Guardian as "one of the country’s finest pop culture historians". He's the author of many books, including Wish You Were Here: England on Sea, Through the Looking Glasses: The Spectacular Life of Spectacles and The Atlas of Vanishing Places, winner of Edward Stanford Travel Book Award in 2020.
C20 Members: £17
Young C20: £10
Non-members: £22
(The price includes a contribution to the casework and campaigning activities of the Society)
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The Twentieth Century Society is an IHBC (Institute of Historic Building conservation) recognised CPD provider.
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Above: 26 St James's Place by Denys Lasdun, 1959–60