by Kenneth Powell
This book maps the genesis and decline of a building thought by many to represent a radical break in Mendelsohn's thinking -- his first step towards a rational form of expression.
The reevaluation of the building also provides an opportunity for a debate on the larger issue of the conservation of modern structures. What are we to make of buildings that no longer perform their intended function? Is there a way to carry out a project of conservation that is not a literal attempt to turn back the clock, to preserve a 'dead' monument? Through texts and speculative projects, Ruins of Modernity explores possible approaches to this increasingly acute problem.
The endpiece -- a presentation of John McAslan's work on Mendelsohn and Chermayev's Bexhill Pavilion -- documents one actual solution.
