Hugh Pearman
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hughpearman.bsky.social
Hugh Pearman
@hughpearman.bsky.social
Writer and editor on architecture. Chair of Twentieth Century Society. Book "About Architecture: An Essential Guide in 55 Buildings" published by Yale.
Reposted by Hugh Pearman
And from Art nouveau to Ziggurats join fellow architectural style lovers for the @c20society.bsky.social
Christmas lecture..Last few in person tickets here. But there are also tickets to watch online...
One for all twentieth century-loving girls and boys
EVENT: Join C20 President @SamiraAhmedUK
for our annual Xmas Lecture: From Cathedrals to Cooling Towers–Global stories about the buildings that bond us.
🗓️ Tue 2 Dec 2025 6.30pm – 8pm
📍 The Gallery, Cowcross St+Online
🎟️ Book tickets: @c20society.bsky.social
secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
November 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Hugh Pearman
NEWS: A bold new vision for the upgrading of Liverpool Street Station by John McAslan + Partners has been unveiled today. Backed by heritage campaigners, it promises to deliver crucial accessibility upgrades without large scale demolition of the listed station.

➡️ c20society.org.uk/news/a-new-v...
November 26, 2025 at 11:03 AM
The fellow seeking donations for a food bank said he'd been there for 2 hours and I was the first person to give him anything, so he gave me some mistletoe in return. 'I hope I bring you luck,' I said. 'May you be showered with kisses,' he replied. And so we parted in great good humour.
November 26, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Hugh Pearman
EVENT: Join C20 President @SamiraAhmedUK
for our annual Xmas Lecture: From Cathedrals to Cooling Towers–Global stories about the buildings that bond us.
🗓️ Tue 2 Dec 2025 6.30pm – 8pm
📍 The Gallery, Cowcross St+Online
🎟️ Book tickets: @c20society.bsky.social
secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
November 23, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Reposted by Hugh Pearman
➡️ Please consider giving generously, click the link below for information on how to donate online, via text, Payroll Giving, or to leave a legacy.

c20society.org.uk/sup.../elain...
November 18, 2025 at 10:43 AM
A tremendous scholar, campaigner and bundle of fizzing energy who saved many fine buildings. If you can donate, please do.
It is exactly two years since C20 Society established the Elain Harwood Fund to secure her legacy, and hosted an incredibly moving event in her honour at the Southbank Centre.
We’re pleased to announce the Fund has now reached £81,000 in donations – over half way to our initial target of £150,000. 🧵
November 18, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Tremendous November half-price offer from Yale on all books in their catalogue priced at less than £100. Which means - for instance for the architecture student in your life for Christmas - my book ABOUT ARCHITECTURE can be yours for a mere £15! Unbeatable!

yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
About Architecture - Yale University Press London
Hugh Pearman deftly guides us through the compelling stories of fifty-five buildings that explain our world, from antiquity to the present day  About Ar...
yalebooks.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Hugh Pearman
With essays by your fave architectural historians, incl. @hughpearman.bsky.social and
@osaumarezsmith.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Hugh Pearman
Just 45 cooling towers left in Britain, all but one in the process of decommission and demolition. If, like me, you are fond of these silent sculptural giants scattered across the landscape, you will love @c20society.bsky.social supersized new book.
November 11, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Had to write a cheque to pay for a government legal service. No other option. Cheque book took some finding. Last time I used it was to pay a locksmith in 2017. Felt so retro I used a fountain pen.
November 3, 2025 at 6:00 PM
He's building a mausoleum/shrine to himself isn't he? Someone will have designed the giant gilded effigy to go in it like an evil reclining Buddha.
October 25, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Us setting off to see our tiny new grand-daughter for the first time
October 19, 2025 at 8:11 AM
So Sir Terry Farrell has died, aged 87, a fortnight after his one-time architectural partner Sir Nicholas Grimshaw. Farrell was a particularly talented large-scale urbanist. An era ends.
September 29, 2025 at 9:55 AM
A Brit running Gaza? What could possibly go wrong? We could call it a "Mandate"
www.thetimes.com/article/4277...
Sir Tony Blair ‘offers to lead interim governing body of postwar Gaza’
The Gaza International Transitional Authority could govern for up to five years. Blair is said to be supported by senior figures close to Trump
www.thetimes.com
September 26, 2025 at 8:52 AM
To think I got into this place a lifetime ago on the strength of two A levels and glandular fever www.thetimes.com/article/b3a3...
Durham wins University of the Year and dismisses ‘Oxbridge reject’ stereotype
Durham University has won University of the Year in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026 and LSE has taken the No 1 spot
www.thetimes.com
September 19, 2025 at 8:01 AM
How about a masterpiece OF kitsch?
The Sagrada Família is an immense, unfinished church in Barcelona, begun in 1882—“a famously slow project, even in a country where, to American eyes, many things move without haste,” D. T. Max writes.
Is the Sagrada Família a Masterpiece or Kitsch?
In the century since Antoni Gaudí died, his wild design has been obsessively realized, creating the world’s tallest church—and an endlessly debated icon.
www.newyorker.com
September 16, 2025 at 7:19 AM
So long, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, 1939-2025. One of the most original and inventive architects of his generation, an inspiring and effective President of the Royal Academy, and a gentleman.
September 15, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Welsh flags outnumbering St
George flags by about 100:1 at the Last Night of the Proms
September 13, 2025 at 9:20 PM
But who will play them in the inevitable film? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps
Sisters Bernadette, Regina and Rita needed a locksmith to get back into their convent, defying Church leaders.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 13, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Good to find a painstaking restoration project (the Big Ben or Elizabeth Tower) on the RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist. Bit odd to find a house and a house extension also on the list - such projects don't win the Stirling because there are other awards for those. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Riba Stirling Prize: Big Ben tower restoration up for architecture award
The restoration of London's famous Elizabeth Tower is nominated for the prestigious Stirling Prize.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 4, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Hugh Pearman
EVENT: C20 Open Mic Night

📆 Thu 25 Sep 2025, 6.30pm
📍Cowcross Street + Online
🎫 c20society.org.uk/events

Returning after a hugely popular debut, another evening of short talks by young & early-career specialists in 20th century heritage - from Sainsbury's public art to a Crittall Windows new town.
September 2, 2025 at 10:22 AM
So tired of the performative flag waving going on. It's so un-British. We don't have a cult of the national flag as the USA does. We don't regard it as a sacred object. Until recently our prime ministers managed without it as a backdrop. Our monarch still does. We know what country we are in. Bah.
August 21, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Please do not use the words 'iconic' 'dystopian' and 'vibrant' anywhere near me, lest I turn violent.
August 18, 2025 at 8:21 AM
I'm going to run away and join the 'geopolitical circus'.
August 15, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by Hugh Pearman
The broadcaster Samira Ahmed was recently appointed president of the Twentieth Century Society. She talks to Apollo about conserving the built environment and making people feel that it matters
Samira Ahmed, Twentieth Century woman
The broadcaster and new president of the Twentieth Century Society talks to Arjun Sajip about conserving the built environment and making people feel it matters
buff.ly
August 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM