Mid-Century Modern, from Frocks to the Festival Walk FULLY BOOKED
Mid-Century Modern, from Frocks to the Festival Walk FULLY BOOKED
Saturday 16 October 2021, 10 am
Elain Harwood leads a walk in London’s West End and South Bank to celebrate the publication of her latest book, 'Mid-Century Britain'. Published with the C20 Society, and focussing on buildings of the Festival of Britain and succeeding decade.
The walk will start at Centre Point, which Elain will argue is more Mid-Century Modern than Brutalist, then head through the area around Oxford Street, which became the centre of the Rag Trade after the Second World War. The walk will include Sanderson’s, 1957-60 by Reginald Uren of Slater, Moberly & Uren; 219 Oxford Street, by Ronald Ward & Partners; John Lewis’s (also by Slater, Moberly & Uren); Time and Life by Michael Rosenauer (1953); Hille’s of 1961-3 by Peter Moro; Ernö Goldfinger’s offices in Albemarle Street and Piccadilly, the later – built for the French Government with Charlotte Perriand – now under threat of demolition; Notre Dame de France of 1953-5 by Hector Corfiato, before heading down to the South Bank, where we will look at the site of the Festival of Britain and finish at the Royal Festival Hall, which still has its model and exhibition about the Festival of 1951.
Elain Harwood is an historian at Historic England. She is co-editor and author of many articles for Twentieth-Century Architecture, the journal of the Twentieth Century Society.
Participants are required to socially distance and wear a face covering indoors, and are asked to consider doing so during the walk in order to minimise risk to participants and others.
Meet time/place: 10 am, Tottenham Court Road tube Station, opposite Centre Point.
Finish time/place: 12.30 pm, Royal Festival Hall.
Members: £22. Non-Members: £27.
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The Twentieth Century Society is a registered charity, no 1110244
The Twentieth Century Society is an IHBC (Institute of Historic Building conservation) recognised CPD provider
Above: John Lewis store, Slater, Moberly & Uren. Photograph: Historic England.