owen-hatherley

83 Articles by:

Owen Hatherley

Owen Hatherley is the culture editor of Jacobin .

The Battle for the Barbican

London’s Barbican and the adjacent Golden Lane estate are symbols of the two souls of post-war social democracy, and how it built for both the intelligentsia and the working class.

Busáras: Dublin’s Modernist Icon

Despite many decades of neglect, Busáras remains one of Dublin’s iconic modernist buildings – and its original design as an ambitious civic centre can offer inspiration to those trying to reclaim the city today.

The Many Loves of Reyner Banham

From modern architecture to American mass culture, writer Reyner Banham championed the progress of his 20th century world – but always with an eye to the interaction between class and design.

Remembering Richard Rogers

The architect and Labour peer Richard Rogers, who passed away this weekend, was a great spokesman for the social possibilities of architecture – but his work also revealed its limits.

Cancelling Coventry’s Future

In the post-war era, Coventry was rebuilt as an optimistic, modernist city. But the selling off of the city centre since the 1980s has made this year’s City of Culture feel more like a City for Developers.

The Left and the Margins

The Left is haunted by the prospect of becoming a subculture divorced from mass politics – but the history of our movement shows that marginal spaces play a critical role in liberating society.

Going Back to NAM

From the late 70s to the early 90s, the New Architecture Movement proposed a form of building that centred the needs of people, not property developers – an idea that remains just as relevant today.

A People’s Architecture

Elain Harwood’s forthcoming book Mid-Century Britain focuses on a time when the architecture of the welfare state was decorative and cheery, rather than monumental and avant-garde.

The Film That Fell to Earth

The recently re-released ‘Friendship’s Death’ is an ambitious 1980s Channel 4 film in which left-wing director Peter Wollen brings radical science fiction together with the Palestinian freedom struggle.