Postmodernist architecture came to prominence in Britain in the mid-70s and favoured decorative styles alluding to architecture’s past. The movement is frequently misunderstood, interpreted as expressing Thatcherism’s hedonistic commercialism in comparison to modernism’s connection to the welfare state. In an attempt to correct this, The Return of the Past sheds light on the movement’s complexities. The drawings, models, images, replicas and fragments included – by architects such as Piers Gough RA and Terry Farrell, among others – highlight a sympathetic, profound movement. The Royal Opera House project (above), for example, saved the area from plans made to empty it for motorways and towers. I recommend catching this one before it closes.
The Return of the Past: Postmodernism in British Architecture
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, 16 May - 27 August
