News and Events
Roland Paoletti (1931-2013).
Roland Paoletti died in November 2013 at the age of 82. He worked for Basil Spence as an assistant in 1958-9 and again in 1963-70, helping with designs for Sussex University and the British Embassy in Rome.
The long interview he gave to Louise Campbell and Miles Glendinning in 2006 helped to inform Glendinning's chapter on the Rome Embassy in Basil Spence Buildings and Projects.
Andrew Saint's obituary of Paoletti for the Guardian was published on 21 December.
Sacred Spaces in Modern Britain.
Louise Campbell will be giving the keynote lecture at this Twentieth Century Society/DOCOMO conference in London on 30th November 2013. The title of the lecture is From Coventry to Canterbury: raids, ruins, politics, pilgrims.
Research team book shortlisted for two prestigious prizes.
Basil Spence: buildings and projects ed. L.Campbell, M.Glendinning and J. Thomas (RIBA Publishing 2012) was recently shortlisted for two prestigious book prizes: The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain's Alice David Hitchcock Medallion, 2012, for an outstanding contribution to the literature of architectural history, and the William MB Berger Prize for British Art History, 2013.
The Berger prize judges described it as follows:...
'This elegantly produced book is hugely impressive and to the point, filling in much invaluable material and making sense of 20th-century Modernism in Britain and the place of Spence within it. An example to all of how to combine several contributions into a whole, that was the product of a vast amount of research.'
Basil Spence exhibition at University of Sussex
An exhibition to mark Spence’s enduring contribution to the University, bringing together for the first time the University’s own collection of original drawings (some by Spence), models, photographs and artifacts. Original research by Professor Howard and by the country’s leading Spence scholar, Sussex alumna Dr Louise Campbell, brings out the significance of the buildings, while Spence himself will be seen giving his views in archive film as part of the visitor experience. Opens 10 May 2012.
Basil Spence: Buildings and Projects
Book edited by Louise Campbell, Miles Glendinning and Jane Thomas
Published by RIBA publications on 6 March 2012.
How we made: architect Anthony Blee and artist Geoffrey Clarke on Coventry Cathedral
An article about Coventry Cathedral is published in the Guardian. (27 February 2012)
Britons of Distinction: Sir Basil Spence
Royal Mail issues a stamp in recognition of the achievements of Sir Basil Spence. (23 February 2012)
Blue plaque for Sir Basil Spence
A blue plaque was unveiled in 2011 to mark Sir Basil Spence's home and office in Canonbury.
Architecture, diplomacy and national identity: Sir Basil Spence and mid-century modernism
Conference at The British School At Rome
3 - 5 December 2008
Spence Centenary Exhibition
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is currently preparing the first major exhibition on the life and work of Sir Basil Spence. Spence remains arguably Scotland’s most renowned modern architect, and this exhibition will survey his rich output from a career which flourished for over forty years, from the 1930s to the 1970s, and in particular during the regenerative immediate post-war period.