The Modernist, Issue 45

The local authority, the borough council, was the furthest away from central government, but many of its officers were fiercely proud of their municipality and their role in shaping its environment for the better. Modernisation was consensual and seen as a civic enterprise as well as an economic imperative. ‘M’ for Municipal, here, could easily be (small) ‘p’ for political.

This issue is a love letter and a lament for the architecture and design of the state and its structures. At a time when the UK government is ideologically orientated towards a ‘lean state’, it seems relevant to ask, ‘what did the state ever do for us?'

Published by The Modernist
Softcover
60 pages
200 x 200 mm
ISBN 977204629000445