Guest Lecture Series Moves To Mann Island Riba North

Brutalism Event At Riba North, Mann Island

Thursday 3rd May

RIBA North in collaboration Urban Splash with support from LSA and LJMU

Parkhill in Sheffield was built as social housing in the early 1960’s during a period of post-war welfarism and municipal dreams. Inspired by Le Corbusier’s modernist design principles at the Unité d'Habitation, Parkhill has been through all the familiar stages we now associate with Brutalist housing estates – from a symbol of a brave new world, through deterioration, tarnished reputation and ultimate decline, emerging as a Grade II* listed building, both loved and hated, and now reinhabited by a proud new community of residents.

Barnabas Calder, author of Raw Concrete: The Beauty of Brutalism, is joined by a panel of seasoned lovers and haters to try to get to the bottom of why Brutalism, above all other architectural movements, polarises opinion? Why is it so emotive and what does the history of Park Hill and its ongoing regeneration tell us about the future of Brutalism?

More details and registration to follow.