Architecture: Modernism in everyday life

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. Speakers: John Grindrod – Writer and author of 'Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain' Ben Highmore – Writer, Professor of Cultural Studies, University of Sussex, and author of 'Culture (Key Ideas in Media and Cultural Studies)' and 'The Great Indoors: At Home in the Modern British House' Penny Sparke – Pro Vice-Chancellor and Director, Modern Interiors Research Centre, Kingston University Joe Kerr (chair) – Architectural historian, Co-editor of 'London: From Punk to Blair' and an occasional bus driver at Tottenham garage