Modernist Delights

A branch of Ryman in Stockport, 2025

…but it’s what above that interests me.

Street view of a Ryman stationery shop with a white facade and large red “Ryman” sign. The shop has two wide display windows filled with products and posters. Above, the building features beige Art Deco architecture with tall, vertical windows. Blue sky with some clouds.

Decorative concrete reliefs in Stockport, 2025

A long, grey concrete building features large, decorative relief panels on its lower facade. The panels display medieval-style figures, shields, and symbols in red, blue, and gold accents. A cloudy sky and empty city street are visible alongside the building.

Awning in central London, 2025

Apologies to whose modern, city, child-killing SUV I drunkenly backed my ass into but once I saw the ruined awning and business name tiled into the floor I simply had to get a picture.

A brick building with two upper windows and a blue plaque between them. Below is a blue awning reading BLOOMSBURY BUILDING SUPPLIES above a closed blue roller shutter. To the left is a blue door numbered 39. The tiled pavement spells out BLOOMSBURY SUPPLIES.

Brewery, Stockport, 2025

A large red-brick brewery building labeled F. Robinson Ltd with multiple signs. The structure features a glass elevator shaft, metal tanks, a clock tower, and a gated entrance with warning and no parking signs. The sky is cloudy overhead.

The imposing Robinsons Brewery, towering over Stockport’s Lower Hillgate, complete with the modern addition of an exposed staircase – my beloved. 2025.

The future of housing in Britain – a 1960’s converted office block in Stockport, 2025

A modern black-and-white four-story office building stands behind a row of closed, graffiti-marked shops with peeling blue paint and metal shutters. The sky is partly cloudy, and a To Let sign is visible. The scene appears quiet and urban.

Commercial building, Stockport, 2025

I love this style of building, the dark brick and chunky, angular form make it feel like a modern castle, reinterpreted for kings not of countries, but of construction recruitment & facilities management.

A brown brick three-story office building with Armstrong Group signage. Banners on the fence read “Labourers & Cleaners Required.” Several signs are attached to the building. The sky is blue with scattered clouds, and the street is empty.

Windowed industrial building in Stockport, 2025

A narrow alley with cracked pavement runs between old brick industrial buildings. The right building has large, dirty glass windows and a faded “FIRST STREET” sign. Overhead wires and cloudy skies add to the worn, urban atmosphere.

Sun-dappled purple palace, Manchester, 2025

A tall white high-rise building, identified as Premier Inn, stands against a blue sky with scattered clouds. Sunlight reflects off its many windows. Glass office buildings and construction fencing surround the main building in an urban setting.

If you live in northern England long enough, you become so desperate to see the sun after a long winter that even the way it bounces off the purple palace in the afternoon becomes romantic.

Panning across a parkade, Toronto, 1996

David Cronenberg filmed this shot specifically for me.

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