Sir Basil Spence – The Great Modernist Architect

Basil Spence was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, He worked out of practices in Rutland Square and then Moray Place and was responsible for numerous buildings in the Modernist/Brutalist style. He designed a theatre, a crematorium, libraries, a nuclear power station and an airport. However, his masterpiece was Coventry Cathedral, where he won a competition from 200 architects to rebuild the bombed Cathedral. The subject of a recent BBC documentary the building of the Cathedral linked his love of modernism with an eye for classical architecture. The Dean of Coventry Cathedral John Whitcombe will speak about the impact of his work with film clips images and stories of his vision. The chair will set the scene with images of his great works.