The Brits Who Built the Modern World Exhibition

The Brits Who Built the Modern World, RIBA Exhibition, Buildings England

The Brits Who Built the Modern World Exhibition at the RIBA

London Architecture Show, 66 Portland Place, UK

3 Feb 2014

The Brits Who Built the Modern World Exhibition

Exhibition: RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1

The Brits Who Built the Modern World exhibition to launch London’s new Architecture Gallery

13 February 2014 – 27 May 2014

Opening exhibition at the new Architecture Gallery, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1

FREE ENTRANCE

In February 2014 the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) will open a brand new gallery at its Art Deco headquarters in central London. The opening exhibition, The Brits Who Built the Modern World, will tell the story of how a single generation of exceptional architects – born within five years of each other in the 1930s – gave 21st Century British architecture an unrivalled reputation around the world. The exhibition is part of a season of exhibitions and events inspired by the BBC TV series The Brits Who Built the Modern World – to be broadcast in Spring 2014.

Reichstag
The Reichstag by Norman Foster (c) Nigel Young

Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Nicholas Grimshaw, Michael and Patty Hopkins and Terry Farrell have designed many of the world’s landmark buildings, from the Reichstag in Berlin to the Pompidou Centre in Paris and The Peak in Hong Kong. What unites these six architects is that they left European modernism behind and became protagonists of the next movement in architecture, known as ‘high-tech’ or ‘industrial style’. Their inspiration came from cars, Meccano and engineers. They replaced typically modernist concrete with steel skeletons and lightweight, ‘clip on’, prefabricated materials. It was a style that each of them developed individually, but which they all successfully exported, turning it and them into a global commodity.

Hearst Tower
Hearst Tower, NY by Foster + Partners (c) Chuck Choi

Through drawings, photographs, models and film – many from the RIBA’s world-renowned collections – the exhibition charts the rise of these prolific architects, and of the changing world that they were designing for. It gives context to their work, including their influences, contemporaries and the technological discoveries that made ever more dazzling structures possible.

The exhibition also explores the changing identity of cities internationally: landmark buildings were increasingly commissioned to ‘brand’ or regenerate a city and few architects were more popular for the role than the six featured in the exhibition.

Delhi Station
Rendering for Delhi Station (unbuilt as yet) (c) Terry Farrell & Partners

The exhibition is supported by Ruskin Air Management.

The Brits Who Built the Modern World season:
The Brits Who Built the Modern World exhibition at the RIBA
Three part BBC documentary: The Brits Who Built the Modern World, to be broadcast in Spring 2014
Series of talks and events at the RIBA including a live Q&A with all five architects and a ‘High Tech’ Last Tuesday evening at the RIBA. For details of all the events click here: www.architecture.com/BritsExhibition

Hong Kong skyline
Hong Kong skyline with HSBC bank by Foster and The Peak by Terry Farrell

Two accompanying RIBA exhibitions

New British Voices – Today and Tomorrow
13 February 2014 – 27 May 2014, RIBA Gallery 1, 66 Portland Place, London, W1

Featuring new and soon to be completed international projects by 17 British based practices – both large and small – this exhibition looks at what UK architecture looks like around the world today and tomorrow. With guest contributions from a range of experts and commentators, it also explores what lies behind the strength of the UK design industries today.

Reichstag
Sketch for Reichstag (c) Norman Foster

Empire Builders: British Architects Abroad 1750 – 1950
30 November 2013 – 15 June 2014, V&A + RIBA Architecture Gallery at the V&A

Drawing largely on the extensive collections of the RIBA’s Library and archives, this display showcases the variety of international buildings designed and built by British architects over two centuries. From a 19th Century cast iron market in Chile to an art deco church in Delhi exquisite drawings, watercolours, photographs and models, show where, why and how British architects built abroad, both inside and outside the Empire.

The Brits Who Built the Modern World Exhibition images / information from the RIBA, London

Location:66 Portland Place, London, W1

RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD. Tel: 020 7580 5533; www.architecture.com/programmes. Nearest tubes are Regents Park, Oxford Circus and Great Portland Street.

A previous RIBA Architecture Exhibition featured on e-architect:

Three Classicists exhibition, RIBA
Three Classicists exhibition
photo : Nick Carter
RIBA Architecture Exhibition

Admission to the exhibitions at the RIBA is FREE.
Venue: The Architecture Gallery, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD, London.
Nearest tube: Great Portland Street, Oxford Circus or Regent’s Park

For public enquiries – Tel: 020 7307 3699 www.architecture.com/programmes. The RIBA is open Monday to Saturday 10am – 5.45pm and until 22.00 every Tuesday. It is closed on Sundays.

The Brits Who Built the Modern World is curated by Mike Althorpe.

Empire Builders, part of an RIBA season of exhibitions and events inspired by the BBC series The Brits who Built the Modern World
Exhibition Dates: 30 November 2013 until 15 June 2014
Venue: V&A + RIBA Architecture Gallery, Room 128a, V&A, Cromwell Road, London. Nearest tube: South Kensington

Admission to the V&A is free. Admission to the Architecture Gallery and Study Rooms is free. For public enquiries – 020 7942 2000; www.vam.ac.uk; www.architecture.com/programmes. The V&A is open Monday to Sunday 10am – 5.45pm and until 22.00 every Friday.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members. www.architecture.com @RIBA

The RIBA’s new Architecture Gallery, designed by award-winning architects Carmody Groake, opens up the ground floor of the RIBA’s Art Deco HQ to the public. With museum-quality conditions, the gallery will enable the RIBA to showcase its world-class collections to all, bringing some of the four million items to life through free exhibitions that explore the past, present and future of architecture. The Studio Space, alongside the Architecture Gallery, will host complementary displays, activities and education work.

BBC – The Brits Who Built the Modern World

For the first time, BBC Four – in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) – will tell the definiteive story of five of the most successful and globally recognised British architects of all time; Richard Rogers; Norman Foster; Nicholas Grimshaw; Michael Hopkins and Terry Farrell. ‘Brits Who Built the Modern World’, will feature exclusive interviews with the five men and their collaborators, and tell the story of how their youthful dreams of building a better world turned architecture into one of Britain’s strongest cultural exports. The 3 x 60 minute series will be broadcast in Spring 2014 and is produced with support from the Open University.

The RIBA Trust manages the cultural assets of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), including the internationally recognised collections of the British Architectural Library. It is the UK’s national architecture centre, delivering the RIBA Awards and RIBA Stirling Prize; the Royal Gold Medal; International and Honorary Fellowships; a full programme of lectures, exhibitions, tours and other events; and an education programme.

London

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