The Modernist #57 - Public

The Modernist #57 - Public

Public transport, public housing, public libraries, public parks, public toilets. You’ll find all of these – and more – in this PUBLIC-themed issue of the modernist.

This issue explores the many forms that public resources and infrastructure assumed in the twentieth century. Beneath it all runs the larger story: the rise, and then the steady unravelling, of investment in public housing, health services, cultural provision… the list is long, and familiar.

We acknowledge that narrative – and you’ll certainly feel its presence throughout these pages – yet we choose to tread a slightly different path. One where crazes for collecting pub signs sit alongside abandoned Soviet monuments, long-lost car parks and a failed attempt to establish an international symbol for lavatories.

Without slipping into nostalgia, it’s worth remembering that there was a time when PUBLIC meant prestige, ambition and civic confidence. Sometimes we need to peel back years of indifference to see it – in housing, theatres, libraries, bus services.

Not everything in this issue gleams. These are places that have worked hard, served well, and stood up to public use – and that, in itself, is worth celebrating.