Part 2 – Giles Gilbert Scott and the Definition of Modernity Between Wars

Lecture Summary:

Giles Gilbert Scott’s reputation reached its peak in the 1920s and ’30s, when he was commissioned to design the red telephone kiosk, the facade of Battersea Power Station, and libraries for Oxford and Cambridge. When critics talked about his architecture, they spoke about its innovation. This talk will explore what made Scott’s architecture stand out from that of his contemporaries and allowed him to create buildings that seemed both modern and familiar.

Speaker: David Frazer Lewis

David Frazer Lewis is an architectural historian of 19^th and 20^th century Britain. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Oxford.

Interlocutor: Alan Powers

Biography

Alan Powers is a leading historian of twentieth century British architecture, art and design. He was Chairman of the Twentieth Century Society 2007-12, and currently a Trustee and co-editor of its journal, Twentieth Century Architecture, and the monograph series, Twentieth Century Architects, published by Liverpool University Press. He is History Leader at the London School of Architecture, and also teaches for New York University, London, and the University of Kent. His books include Modern, the Modern Movement in Britain (20005), Britain – Modern Architectures in History (2007) and Bauhaus Goes West (2019).