Modernist Delights

Manchester in the fog, 2026

The Arndale Tower glows with a red sign at its peak, rising above a shopping centre shrouded in thick, nocturnal fog. Below, illuminated shopfronts with large text reading Foot Locker and Urban Playground stand beside a utility pole and glowing streetlights.

A low-angle view of the Rylands building at night, featuring glowing amber letters spelling RYLANDS and a large illuminated clock on its stone façade. Thin overhead wires criss-cross the misty dark sky, and a few windows are lit from within.

A busy city street at night is illuminated by tall streetlights through a thick fog. A tram moves along tracks on the right, while cars travel down the road. Pedestrians walk along the pavement and bridge, past modern buildings and a stone retaining wall.

The Mercure Hotel and City Tower stand against a dark, foggy night sky, their illuminated signs glowing in pink and white. The modern, multi-storey buildings feature horizontal rows of windows and balconies, casting faint light onto the street level below.

Palác ARA, Prague, Czechia, 2026

A multi-storey, curved art deco building with white stone walls and large glass windows stands at a city corner under a clear blue sky. Pedestrians walk on the pavement in front of street signs, metal barriers, and a lamp post. The building features a prominent corner clock and a rooftop sign.

This former department store, designed by architect Milan Babuška and built in 1930-31, is now a bank on the ground floor, with offices and co-working spaces above.

The building was extensively refurbished in 2018-19, with neon backlighting being added back to the façade, as per the original plans, as well as the signage at the top referring to its’ original use.

The clock is a nice touch, too.

Williamson Power Station, Lancaster, 2026

An abandoned red-brick industrial building stands silhouetted against a vibrant sunset with pink and orange clouds. A tall chimney rises from the side, and a metal security fence encloses the gravel car park and overgrown path in the foreground.

🪧 Days Without Posting Williamson Power Station: 0.

Derelict shopfront, Minoritská 472/8, Brno, Czechia, 2026

A weathered clothing shop shopfront with the red sign ELEGANCE DÁMSKÁ MÓDA in the window. Mannequins display shirts behind the glass, while the surrounding beige building façade is covered in graffiti and stickers near street level.

A tall, narrow building features a cream-coloured facade with ornate gold masks and brick accents between three storeys of windows. At street level, a clothing shop with red window signage and a grey retractable awning sits between neighbouring buildings in a city street.

On the ground floor of this building lies a womenswear shop, presumably defunct, covered in graffiti. Looking back at old Street View imagery, the condition of the building began to deteriorate around 2011, which is surprising as I found other buildings around this one to be clean – so perhaps it’s just a lack of maintenance that has allowed this one to languish.

The floors above the shop are actually very presentable. The Brno Architecture Manual, where the building is listed as the apartment building of Charlotte Deutsch, designed by Maximilian Leopold Matzenauer and built in 1904, notes the “facade is adorned with rich stucco Art Nouveau decoration”. The grape motifs perhaps relate to the Deutsch family distillery, which itself has recently been converted into shared offices and spaces for cultural and educational events.

The note above the door, presumably penned by the disgruntled residents of the apartments above, leaves no room for doubt: “This is not a toilet! Stop pissing and shitting here!”

Palác Alfa, Brno, Czechia, 2026

The façade of a modernist building features a grid of white rectangular panels and multiple rows of windows. The ground floor has large glass shopfront windows displaying hanging plants and the text Kadeřnický Salon printed on the glass.

A street view in a city centre shows a modern glass-fronted office building nestled between two older, cream-coloured buildings. A blue sign reading SKY ICE BAR hangs on the left corner, whilst pedestrians and a person walking a small dog stroll along the stone-paved pavement.

Sometimes, a building captures my attention for reasons that aren’t always immediately obvious.

Palác Alfa is an inter-war complex of retail and housing in the functionalist style, designed by Czech architect Bohuslav Fuchs. It is the retail element which interests me the most – an intricately detailed arcade featuring curved glass, metal window frames and balustrades, and a clock to make Preston bus station turn green with envy.

The current interior is primarily a result of post-war reconstruction, with the arcade having been severely damaged during the war. Original functionalist details have also been restored during later reconstructions, such as when the original cinema in the basement was adapted for use by the HaDivadlo theatre.

I didn’t enter the arcade when I visited because I didn’t realise what awaited me inside, but there are great photos of the interior on the Alfa Passage website.

Road underpass, Brno, Czechia, 2026

Two metal, cage-like structures with angled, glass-panelled roofs stand along a paved road. They are surrounded by patches of green grass under a bright, partly cloudy sky, with a blank circular traffic sign on a pole visible in the foreground.

Charles Street multi-storey car fortress, Manchester, 2026

A multi-storey concrete car park features a central dark brick stairwell with bright blue metal stairs. A black hatchback is parked at the base, and graffiti marks the wall near a closed metal shutter. The sky above is bright with wispy clouds.

A vertical brick stairwell tower stands between levels of an open-air concrete car park. Bright blue railings follow the zig-zagging stairs, which are marked by layers of graffiti. A thin mesh fence partially covers the ground level, and a cloudy blue sky sits above.

Heard this week that demolition of this one has begun, or rather, “there’s chunks missing out of it,” in my boyfriend’s parlance. The MEN reports it’s set to be replaced by student housing “inspired by nearby listed modernist icon, the Renold Building” — which means it’s going to be clad in white, in short.

This one holds a special place in my heart, having featured in the first post on here.