Berthold Lubetkin: A talk by John Allan

JOHN ALLAN presents his lecture on the life and works of the great emigre architect
Recorded at The Gallery, Cowcross Street, London, 23rd November 2021
Berthold Lubetkin (1901-1990) is widely regarded as the outstanding modern architect of his generation to practise in England. With his Tecton partnership he produced some of the most innovative and memorable modern buildings of the 1930s, following through with a substantial post-war output. Most of his surviving works are listed. Yet to many he remains a rather mysterious and misunderstood figure, who doesn’t easily fit the conventional categories of Modernist historiography. In this talk his biographer, John Allan who knew Lubetkin for 20 years, explains some of the key themes of his work and expounds on the character of the man himself.
John Allan’s award-winning biography of Lubetkin was first published in 1992 and is now in its 2nd edition reprint. As a practising architect over 45 years and a director of Avanti Architects, Allan has worked on the conservation of many of Lubetkin’s buildings, as well as others of the modern period. He was instrumental in creating the Isokon Gallery in Hampstead, recently winner of the Docomomo International DRAW Award in the Conservation through Activism category, where he is Chairman of the Isokon Gallery Trust.