One of the (many) disturbing aspects of getting older is the realisation that a generation of architects that were once professional household names, in some cases even heroes, has virtually disappeared from current discourse and may never even have entered the frame of reference of a younger cohort of architects or students. This condition of amnesia is not helped by the widespread neglect of modern history in Britain's architectural schools and the media's relentless search for new 'stars'. The indifference towards retired or departed practitioners of the recent past is paralleled by an equivalent neglect of its physical residues-a phenomenon all too familiar to practitioners such as myself who are challenged with the task of rescuing and restoring some of the more significant but frequently forgotten works of the period that have ceased to be 'current' but are yet not old enough to have become 'historic'-even if a few may have been listed. To be clear, I am not talking about figures with an international profile-Lubetkin, Goldfinger, Lasdun, Stirling, the Smithsons (arguably) and our more recent lords and knights of the realm-whose seats in the pantheon have already been secured. No, I am referring to distinguished members of the second eleven (or better) who deserve a place but as yet have no reservation.
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