This year the Annual Lecture will be held at St Michael’s Church, Pond Road, SE3 and will be followed by drinks in the garden. Alistair Fair will speak on Peter Moro who lived and designed the hidden but remarkable number 20 Blackheath Park.
Peter Moro is the forgotten co-designer of the Royal Festival Hall. A German émigré who had worked with Berthold Lubetkin’s famed practice, Tecton, in the 1930s, Moro was drafted in to help realise the Festival Hall in just two short years, in time for the Festival of Britain in 1951. With a team of his former students, he created many of the interiors we see today. For Moro, the Festival Hall was a stepping-stone to a career designing many of Britain’s finest post-war theatres, particularly Nottingham Playhouse, Plymouth Theatre Royal, and the renovated Bristol Old Vic. He and his colleagues also designed some exceptional one-off houses, as well as exhibitions, university buildings, schools, and council housing, collaborating with leading talents such as the designer Robin Day. This body of work includes Peter Moro’s own house at 20 Blackheath Park, built in 1958 and first listed in 1988, now grade II*. The house is an outstanding example of its type, one of the best of the period, both in layout and in use of materials and detailing.
Dr Alistair Fair is a Reader in Architectural History at the University of Edinburgh and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He is the author of Peter Moro and Partners, published by the 20 Century Society and Liverpool University Press in 2021. This is the first book devoted to the work of Peter Moro and his colleagues in architectural practice. Ranging from the 1930s to the 1980s, it explores Moro’s belief in a rigorous modern architecture which was both functionally sound and aesthetically rich. It sheds new light on this important body of work, and enriches our understanding of the experience and diversity of modernism in Britain.
Having been interested in architecture, town planning, and street lighting design (!) from an early age, Alistair studied Modern History before specialising in Architectural History. In addition to his book on Peter Moro and Partners, Alistair’s other most recent major publications are on the architectural history of Britain's modern and contemporary theatres.
Tickets £15 available from Eventbrite follow the link below. Students can get a £5 refund at the door. Please mark against your name when booking your ticket if you are a student.
If you are driving to the event please note:
Parking: "Please park along Pond Road and leave a note visible stating you are visiting this event, or collect a pre-printed notice from the Church on your arrival to display."
Precautions to limit the spread of Covid will be undertaken.
