Join The Modernist Society, Our Favourite Places and guests for a day of talks and conversations in the stunning 1950s interior of Victoria Hall. Modernists in Conversation draws together academics, authors and practitioners to discuss Sheffield's rich Modernist built environment. Topics will cover everything from the influence of architecture and environment on popular culture to stories of housing in the city, with breaks between each session. Upshot Espresso will be on site serving coffee and pastries. Sheffield magazine and design book specialist La Biblioteka will also be there, selling a range of publications on architecture – including titles by the speakers.
Advance tickets are no longer on sale online but will be available on the door.
Sessions:
10:30am – Sheffield's Buildings
From churches to substations, Sheffield has a definite flavour when it comes to architecture. A panel of speakers will try to distill this flavour.
Speakers: Elain Harwood, Satwinder Samra, Russell Light
12pm – Sounds of the City
How much does the environment we inhabit shape our culture? This session will discuss how Sheffield's pop music has often looked to its architecture and industry for inspiration.
Speakers: Martyn Ware, Owen Hatherley, Lynsey Hanley
2pm – Housing
Delegations from across the world came to Sheffield in the postwar era to marvel at its social housing. Speakers at this session will look at this legacy and reflect on where we are today at a time of acute housing shortages.
Speakers: Alison Ravetz, Lynsey Hanley, John Boughton
3:30pm – Materials
This session will take a closer look at the forms and materials that have shaped the postwar city – from the means of construction to the public art that adorns and enhances our streets.
Speakers: Dawn Pereira, Barnabas Calder, Howard Evans
Speakers include:
John Boughton – author of Municipal Dreams: The Rise and Fall of Council Housing (Verso) and blogs at municipaldreams.wordpress.com
Barnabas Calder – senior lecturer in architecture at the University of Liverpool and author of Raw Concrete: The Beauty of Brutalism
Howard Evans – university teacher at the Sheffield School of Architecture, and a director with RIBA Award winning practice Chiles Evans + Care Architects
Lynsey Hanley – author of Estates: an Intimate History and visiting fellow in cultural studies at Liverpool John Moores University
Elain Harwood – historian with Historic England, author of Space, Hope and Brutalism, and co-editor of the Twentieth Century Society's journal, Twentieth Century Architecture
Owen Hatherley – author of ten books, most recently Trans-Europe Express and The Adventures of Owen Hatherley in the Post-Soviet Space
Russell Light – senior university teacher at the Sheffield School of Architecture
Dawn Pereira – Henry Moore post-doctoral fellow at the University of East London, writing a monograph on the British artist William Mitchell’s integration of architectural sculpture into post-war urban landscapes
Alison Ravetz – professor emeritus at Leeds Metropolitan University and author of a Quarry Hill Flats study (Model Estate) and Council Housing and Culture – History of a Social Experiment
Satwinder Samra – architect, director of collaborative practice and senior university teacher at the Sheffield School of Architecture
Martyn Ware – musician, producer, educator, sound technician and founding member of The Human League and Heaven 17
One ticket gives you access to all four sessions throughout the day and you can attend as many or as few as you please. Concessionary tickets are available for people who are unwaged/students/over 60/under 16.
This event is part of the Sheffield Modern architecture weekender.