the modernist-57: Public – The Modernist Society
PUBLIC service announcement! The summer 2026 edition of the modernist has landed and it is very public-facing!
the modernist issue 57 was published in June 2026 and features essays, articles, and pictures that explore and play with how the idea of ‘PUBLIC’ was utilised and deployed across various contexts throughout the twentieth century:
Tamara Muradova presents a personal account of her involvement with the restoration of the Academic Gorky Theatre, the largest dramatic theatre in the USSR and a remarkable example of Soviet Brutalism.
Did you know there was a craze for collecting miniatures of pub signs? Emma West fills us in with all the details.
Public libraries expanded in the UK in the second half of the twentieth century, and Samantha Barnes shares the hidden gem of Saltash Library — a Cornish monument to modernity.
With a different take on the public library theme, Natalie Bradbury introduces us to the Leeds Art Library — an innovative scheme that continues to place artworks directly into the hands (and homes) of members of the public in Yorkshire.
Lo Parkin’s painstaking illustrations of London’s modernist public housing estates provide a reminder of the precarity and ongoing value of these spaces.
Sally Ann Norman’s powerful images document the final days of the Brutalist icon that was the Gateshead ‘Get Carter’ public car park.
Matthew Dowell whisks us to the interwar period, where architect Oliver Hill’s Prospect Inn in Kent used interior design choices to create a bold interpretation of what a public bar should be.
Mikayla Exton’s visual essay outlines a backdrop of ambitious public architecture from the Soviet era in Armenia and Georgia, inviting us to reflect on the shifting notion of what ‘public’ is and who public monuments are for.
Through an exploration of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre by pioneering architect Elizabeth Whitworth Scott (1898–1972), Sarah Howard Jones reminds us of the challenges and pitfalls that come with having a public‑facing life.
Alastair J. Shelley reflects on the role and value of public parks and their ability to shape urban spaces and experiences, focusing on Seattle’s Freeway Park.
Ian McLaren reminisces about his experiences working on international groups to standardise public information symbols — including those for lavatories. Outcomes were mixed.
Katie McCraw shares her photo‑essay on Split 3, a Croatian housing estate conceived by a pan‑Yugoslav team of architects with clear civic ambition.
The issue is rounded off by Eve Pennington, who grapples with public transport — buses, to be precise — and the utopian vision for the Runcorn Busway, a scheme realised in one of Britain’s postwar New Towns.
The Modernist is a quarterly printed publication about 20th century modernist architecture and design. Published in the North of England and now spreading its tentacles across the world.
Publisher: The Modernist Society
Format: Paperback/Magazine
Pages: 72
ISSN: 2046-2905
Publication Date: Summer 2026