Modern Buildings in London

First published in 1964, Modern Buildings in London is a celebration of the city’s post-war architecture by the famously untrained critic Ian Nairn. Written ‘by a layman for laymen’, Nairn’s take on 260 buildings that were instantly recognisable as ‘modern’ includes descriptions of classic designs such as the Barbican, the former BBC Television Centre, as well as schools, ambulance stations, car parks and even care homes. The last book in which Nairn approaches modern architecture as the site of potential optimism, this alternative guidebook maps out a lost London and shows Nairn writing at the pithy peak of his powers.