York’s modern architecture focus of new book from tour guide inspired by 20th century

But for architect John Brooke Fieldhouse, it is the more modern – and often unknown – treasures in the York skyline that provide the most intrigue.

Pockets of modern architecture are now being marked with their own stories in a new book designed to capture the attention of residents and visitors alike.

It is the nature of York’s architecture that inspires Mr. Brooke Fieldhouse, 70, himself a former pupil of Bothham School.

“One era or era is connected to another by a kind of invisible glue. Buildings are not library books, you can’t put them on different shelves, they have to coexist,” he says.

“For example, if you were standing in the northeastern part of the Museum Gardens, you could see six different eras and architectural styles all at the same time.

Central elements of downtown that marry old to new include the Theatre Royal, which combines an 18th-century auditorium with a modern foyer that opened in 2016 as part of a major renovation project.

Brooke Fieldhouse runs tours of downtown where it also shows visitors the City Screen cinema, located partly in the old Yorkshire Herald offices off Coney Street, York’s main shopping street.

While he was inspired by many of the great design thinkers of York associated with York—including Lord Escher, whose report more than 50 years ago outlined today’s heavily pedestrian center—Mr. Brooke Fieldhouse is somewhat pessimistic about the future of the city’s landscape, particularly Effects of climate change.

“My book shows many examples of ‘interference’ – principally addition and deletion, focusing on what people now refer to as ‘reallocation,'” he says, “but there are many other exciting ways to go forward on this.

“Many architects around the world are now addressing the need to dramatically reduce global warming. York has a tradition of conservation, preservation, and restoration. That alone is not enough.”

“It is not possible for a city to remain static, either develop or decline, that’s it. Save in Aspic is not on the list.

“My biggest fear is that York will not only become a place one goes to discover the past, but a place that was part of the past, stuck, somewhere in the late twentieth century.”

Architecture York: Twentieth Century Plus is now available.