We were responsible for the exhibition design, research and coordination. The exhibition, and recent demolition of a number of building featured in it, have prompted a revival of interest in the modernist heritage of the region. Much of the content from the exhibition is now included in the Something Concrete + Modern online archive.
Client: RIBA North East
Location: Newcastle Upon-Tyne
We took a dual role in this project, researching and curating the exhibition content and designing and overseeing the installation of the exhibition itself. The exhibition was held in the Stephenson Works, a Grade I listed building in Newcastle and the former workshop of the railway engineer, Robert Stephenson.
The exhibition charted the architectural landscape of the region during the period 1945-1979 and documented more than 40 projects and key figures from the period. The exhibition featured original models and artefacts sourced and restored from the architects’ archives, film recordings, art work from Peter Yates, alongside newly commissioned models and drawings by students of architecture at Newcastle University and Northumbria University. The exhibition design was undertaken in collaboration with the the RIBA North East steering committee and Formica who sponsored the exhibition.
The exhibition ignited local interest in the subject and sparked the ongoing project and archive Something Concrete and Modern which have developed over the past five years.
Exhibition Collaborators:
Faulkner Brown Architects
Bill Stoner
Neil Taylor
Jackie Gardener
Stuart Hendy
Emma Alborough
Elder Lester McGreggor Ross Architects
Ian McGreggor
Cummins Engines
David Newsome
John Smithson
James Cubbitt Architects
John Kress
Napper Architects
Eric Carter
Ryder Architecture
Alison Fowler
Durham County Council
Colin Robson
Architects Co-Partnership
Ann Markiewicz
_Space
Phil Lloyd
Photoline
Peter
Billingham Forum
Anne Restall
Amber Film
Graeme Rigby
QMF Northern Fabricators
Stuart Robinson
Silverlink
Michelle Percy
Claire Holborn
Lisa Lawson
Formica
James Dawson
Simon Wild
Ken Dobbin
CADA
Paul Jones
Newcastle University
Bill Softly (Workshop technician)
Sean Mallen
Peter Kellett (loan of Killingworth model and man-hole cover)
HOME Group
Don Keskeys
Dhruv Sookhoo
Sub-Committee
Rutter Caroll
Dolan Conway
Cyril Winskill
Moira Conway
Dhruv Sookhoo
Student Modelmakers
Jesmond Library Model
John Beattie
Frederick Picart
Jack Mutton
Apollo Pavilion Model
Ronald Allen
Pratik Jain
Helen Markides
Rachel Davey
Northumbria University Modelmakers
Newcastle Civic Centre Model
Steven Paynter
Otis Murdoch
Lam Nguyen
Photographers
Sally Anne Norman
Moira Conway
Paul Delphanque
William Lawrence Walker and Family
Jane McDevitt
Edward McDevitt
Brad Dales
Brian Smith
Alexander Duncan
