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Manchester Modernist Society

Manchester Modernist Society

I was out walking with some friends this weekend and trying very hard to think of the name of a certain mid-century Manchester, England, architect and utterly failing. We were talking about urban planning and a sense of place, about how regional talent with a commitment to staying put (instead of globetrotting many of our leading lights partake in now) is often the best thing for a city, particularly one outside the capital. I never could think of that architect (a bit of websearching and I realized that I was thinking of John Madin of Birmingham, not Manchester), but I did stumble across the rather wonderful site of the Manchester Modernist Society.
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Made up of enthusiasts, lay-preservationists, and those in love with the city's built form, the Manchester Modernist Society is just what every town ought to have: a living cognizance of what has been, a desire to hang on to the best bits, and an enthusiasm for what's next. One of my favorite parts of the site is this sneak preview of a design map. I just grabbed a quick screenshot, but visit the interactive map itself to see what's on a handful of walking routes alliteratively dubbed the Beleaguered, Beautiful, Brutal, and Bold.

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I also watched a pair of elegiac videos dedicated to two 20th century buildings in Manchester, the Midland by Edwin Lutyens and Granadaland, a television studio by Ralph Tubbs.

 

 

Have a look at the pair of videos and be sure to poke around the site. Good work, MMS! Keep it up!

Aaron Britt
Aaron writes the men's style column "The Pocket Square" for the San Francisco Chronicle and has written for the New York Times, the Times Magazine, Newsweek, National Geographic and others.

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