The mid twentieth century saw significant numbers of public buildings of all sorts created providing the opportunity for this study to draw out themes from them.
Firstly they tell us of the confidence of the local authorities that where creating them – they had resources to invest and improve their communities, and were doing so in an unapologetic way that now be very difficult to achieve.
Second, there was a shift from architecture that spoke of the past, perhaps with an emphasis on rootedness, to the embrace on modernism – communicating that municipal administration was efficient and helping drive forward progress. Another area of confidence that as probably faltered.
Part of the reason for the Twentieth Century Society wanting to give focus to these buildings is their vulnerability.
Bespoke buildings designed closely around a particular purpose and function are often hard to adapt to the changing needs and uses. Cash strapped authorities look towards disposal and either cheap new build replacements, or often simply the curtailment of the whole function that required the building in the first place.
But as buildings created as part of a self-conscious programme of place making there loss from the build environment of a town or neighbourhood is a particularly acute one.
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