The first entry of C20’s Building of Month was published nearly 25 years ago, in October 2001. Then chairman, Gavin Stamp, decided to write about a derelict building instrumental to the foundation of C20 as the Thirties Society in 1979 – Oliver Hill’s modernist Midland Hotel, Morecambe (1933). In 2008, this vast sea fronting complex was refurbished and restored to its original use.
Since Stamp’s article, Building of the Month has developed into an invaluable platform to document and ultimately help save countless twentieth century buildings in the UK and globally. In the archive below, you will find over 250 entries spanning more than 30 countries.
For pitches, or to discuss ideas, please contact: joe@c20society.org.uk
Joe Mathieson is editor of Building of the Month. He is an Architectural Adviser at the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust and a C20 volunteer.
Artist Constructor, by Rachel Williams Four miles south of Bristol one might be surprised to stumble upon a group of houses such as those at Flax Bourton. But there they stand, bold and bright, sculptural, strange and stark, yet somehow at home in ...
UPACE Limited, 1962-72, by Barnabas Calder Even by the high standard of Canada’s postwar campuses York University, Toronto, has some magnificent Brutalist architecture. Part of a huge expansion in Canadian higher education, York was founded in 19...
Heinz Rau and David Reznik, 1957, by Timothy Brittain-Catlin Very few modern synagogues have attracted the interest of architects worldwide, and in Israel itself there is possibly only one that has achieved this distinction. The tiny Israel Goldste...
Naval Architect: James Ayers; Builder: Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, 1980, by Bruce Peter Modern cross-Channel ferries, which carry a large proportion of goods imported from our European neighbours, are among the most ingenious examples of cont...
Yekaterina Maximova, by Clementine Cecil The reinforced concrete Maslennikov factory canteen (1930-1932) by architect Yekaterina Maximova has a ground plan in the form of a hammer and sickle. This was one of the earliest experiments in the use of st...
Powell & Moya, by Kenneth Powell Powell & Moya’s Cripps Building at St John’s College, Cambridge, which was listed last year at Grade II*, has enjoyed a good press from the time of its completion in 1967. “A masterpiece by one of th...
Ryder and Yates, by Elain Harwood Trying to find buildings by Ryder and Yates in their native North-East surviving in their original condition is tricky today. The recent book on the practice, by Rutter Carroll for the RIBA/English Heritage and T...
Peter Aldington, 1964-68 (Listed Grade II*), by Alan Powers In 1964, Peter Aldington was a young architect with one project behind him as an independent practitioner. He was newly married, and looking for somewhere to build his own house in the south...
Sandy and Norris, by Aidan Turner-Bishop This month marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Thirties Society, which was to go on to become the Twentieth Century Society. To celebrate this anniversary November 2009’s Building of the Mont...
McMorran & Whitby, 1960-72, by Edward Denison McMorran & Whitby was among Britain’s most intriguing architectural practices of the 20th century, yet their output remains shamefully unfamiliar. This obscurity was caused largely by their ‘...
Eliel Saarinen, by Brian Carter Winning second prize in the prestigious international competition to design the new Tribune Tower in Chicago in 1922 was a notable achievement for the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. It was also to be the event that...
Horace Field, by Timothy Brittain-Catlin Rye Hill is the name of the area around the steep road that leads into the picturesque East Sussex town of Rye from the north. To architectural historians it is probably best known for Reginald Blomfield’s ...
Robert Matthew of RMJM, by David Reat Inverkip power station is an oil-fired power station located on the eastern shore of the Firth of Clyde on the west coast of Scotland - between Inverkip and Wemyss Bay in Inverclyde. The coastal location meant...
George Henry Widdows, by Roger Mitchell Ilkeston, overlooking the Erewash Valley in Derbyshire, has a hilltop location which gives prominence to its two tall churches found in the town centre. On its lower western side though, the skyline is marke...
In 1913, a competition was held to design a new building to house the then Belfast Museum and Art Gallery’s expanding collections. James Cumming Wynnes of Edinburgh won the competition judged by Sir J J Burnet, but the First World War delayed const...
Peter Moro, by Alistair Fair The Nottingham Playhouse is widely regarded as one of the best British theatre buildings of its date. Designed by Peter Moro, the co-architect of the Festival Hall (1951), the Playhouse opened in 1963, replacing the cr...
J Seymour Harris Partnership 1968-70, Listed Grade II, by Christopher Marsden In 1959 Huddersfield Corporation sought the comprehensive redevelopment of the town’s centre. Murrayfield Real Estate was the selected developer for much of the area. ...
Anthony Hollaway, by Richard Brook The former University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) campus, now part of the University of Manchester, is home to some of Manchester’s finest 1960s buildings and structures. The sculptu...
Maciej Nowicki, by Andrew Saint Raleigh, North Carolina, is not a prime destination for the architectural globetrotter. Yet it was there at the cumbrously named State Fair Livestock Judging Pavilion, aka the Dorton Arena, aka the ‘Cow Palace’, t...
Bradford Odeon (formerly New Victoria/Gaumont) Words and pictures by Mark Nicholson The Bradford Odeon building currently faces a very uncertain future on two counts. Disused for eight years, the submission of a planning application to demolish it co...
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