#modernism

Page 4

Boarded-up building, Shoreditch, London, 2025

Brick building with a concrete brick and window facade. The first floor features grates, as if for a semi-underground car park. All windows on the floor above are boarded up. Windows on the higher floors are not boarded up, but are largely graffitied.

London College of Fashion, Shoreditch, 2025

A building with a single square-ish mass, three storeys, and an additional smaller mass featuring a door and stairwall just out of shot to the right. The building is made out of London brick, with large thin-framed windows on the upper two storeys. The lower storey has windows, shutters, and graffiti. On the lower two storeys, the frontage is covered in large cream tiles, with a light-blue border around that and the front door.

New and old on Regent’s Canal, Islington, London, 2025

Sunny day on the Regent's Canal, taken from on the water. The foreground features a large, lush green tree. In the middle, there are some 19th century buildings, including a mill and cottage. In the background there is a 1960's mid-rise housing block, all set against a clear blue sky.

I’m not turning this blog into Riparian Delights, I promise. This counts as a Modernist Delight because the housing block in the back is Jessop Court, built 1969. Diespeker Wharf, a Victorian former timber mill & terrazzo and marble manufacturer, and an early 19th century wharf-keeper’s cottage.

Cromwell Tower, Barbican Estate, London, 2025

In the foreground of the picture, the Barbican Centre is visible, with a white-clad cafe to the right, a round staircase clad in darkened glass, and 3 concrete ventilation towers. In the background, against a dark blue sky, a concrete tower block rises.

Details at the Barbican Estate, London, 2025

A sunlit shot of balconies covered with shutters on a curved building at the Barbican Estate. Most of the shutters are closed, but on the floor which is in the middle of the shot, several of them are open to differing degrees.

A sunlit ground-level shot of the corner of one of the towers at the Barbican Estate. In the centre of the image, the inflecting shape of the concrete balconies is captured. Several floors in the middle of the bulding are visible.

A ground-level shot of one of the concrete towers at the Barbican Estate. Many floors repeat up towards the top of the image, with the shapes of balconies visible.

Close up of 4 concrete balconies, with blue metal and glass balustrades. Behind each, are some rectangular brown windows and bright red doors. The shot is taken from ground level, looking up at the balconies, filling the image geometrically.

A shot of the Barbian Estate, with multiple parts of it visible. In the foreground, on the left, the edge of one of the buildings with corridors and stairways visible, as well as a concrete ventilation shaft on the right. Across the middle of the shot, a covered glass walkway. In the back, another concrete shaft and the conservatory.

A multi-coloured contraption for holding bike locks, mounted against a red wall. It has several sections, all of different colours, with labels in different fonts and of different ages. Some have bike locks attached to them.

Front-on close up of the Seddon House at the Barbican Estate, focusing on the ground floor and the 4 floors above that.

Heatwave at the Barbican Estate, 2025

A wide geometric shot of flats at the Barbican estate. In the background, more modern glass buildings of central London. In the foreground, a fountain with water flowing into the pool beneath.

Wide shot showing many features of the Barbican estate. From left to right: Guildhall School of Music and Drama, an algae-green pool, a tall tower, a shorter tower with view of its balconies, and the main Barbican library building.

A shot from one of the balconies at the Barbican estate. In the very front of the shot, the concrete balcony is out of focus. Further out, there is a tree, a pool green with algae, and even further back, one of the apartment buildings and the modern glass buldings of the City of London in the background.

A shot of the Barbican estate, featuring greenery in the very foreground, followed by Barbican buildings further back, and the glass buildings of the City of London in the very background.

A shot of balconies, mostly covered with wooden shutters, at the circle-shaped building at the Barbican estate. In the foreground, concrete planters.

A ground-level shot looking up at one of the buildings at the Barbican estate, showing 6 floors of balconies full of plants.

A shot of one of the covered walkways of the Barbican. It is fairly dark, with light only coming in at the back of the image, where silhouettes of two people can be seen standing.

Commercial Union House in the sharp summer sunshine, London, 2025

A close up of 3 storeys of windows, with a little bit of the sky visible in the top right corner. The building itself is clad with different shades of brown tile. The windows span the width of the building at equal intervals, and are darkened. Behind them are dishevelled vertical blinds.

Show me a darkened window and I’ll be there.

Patrick Coman House, Finsbury Estate, Clerkenwell, London, 2025

A shot of a 9 storey housing estate building shot at an angle of about 30 degrees to the face of the building. Each storey is fronted by a rough textured concrete walkway, and at equal intervals ribbed balconies made of an opaque white material, possibly also concrete, curve outwards. Residents' satellite dishes cast shadows in the spring sun. In the foreground, a leafy tree covers most of the first set of balconies.

Entire societies have lived and died in the time I have prevaricated over whether to post this, but… I don’t know, something about this one just catches my eye.

Balconies of Wells House, Spa Green Estate, Clerkenwell, London, 2025

Ground level shot looking up at an 8 storey building, focusing on the balconies. These alternate with tiles at the sides and latticed fencing in the middle, and vice versa. The balconies are inset into the building and either side of them is a grid of clean, PVC windows.

Brunswick Centre in the sunset, London, 2025

A photo of the Brunswick Centre taken at a 45 degree angle. It is a concrete ziggurat-style structure, painted white, with small conservatory-like glass balconies on each floor. The sun is setting, and people are crossing the zebra crossing on front of the building.

A detail photo of the Brunswick Centre. It is a concrete structure painted white, ziggurat-style, about 6 stories. The photo shows a front-on view of 4 glass conservatories coming out the face of the building on each floor.

A detail photo of the Brunswick Centre, showing two concrete columns rising a few metres above the top storey of the building. They appear to be used for cooling, with vents in the top section of the column.