The Brits Who Built the Modern World
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- Episode
- Ep1 - Freedom of the Future
- Broadcast Info
- 2014 (59 mins)
- Description
- The story of how an exceptional generation of British architects, led by Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, conquered the globe with their high tech vision. This first episode of the series incudes glimpses of some of their most stunning recent work, such as London’s new ‘Cheesegrater’ skyscraper, Spaceport America, and the KK100 skyscraper in China (the tallest tower ever built by a British architect) - before looking in detail at some of their revolutionary projects from 1960s and 70s. Foster, Rogers, Nicholas Grimshaw, Michael Hopkins and Terry Farrell were born within six years of each other in the 1930s; shaped by both the opimtism of the post war years and the sixties counterculture, these pillars of today’s establishment began their careers as outsiders and radicals. Rogers and his collaborators tell the story of one of the most influential buildings of the twentieth century, the Pompidou Centre in Paris - the result of a contest he didn’t want to enter, and no-one ever thought they’d win. Other early projects featured include Norman Foster’s glassy Willis Faber & Dumas Headquarters in Ipswich, Farrell & Grimshaw’s corrugated aluminium tower block next to Regent’s Park in London, and the industrial style Hopkins House in Hampstead.
- Genre
- Architecture; Culture; Technology
How to cite this record
The Open University, "The Brits Who Built the Modern World". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/85429 (Accessed 10 Jan 2025)