RIP Sir Terry Farrell www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

A fascinating book talk and signing yesterday on modernist and brutalist architecture in Hong Kong by Alex Yuen, Jeff Chan and Bob Pang. The talk was in Cantonese 廣州話, but we’re hoping to host it next year in English 英文.

In 1934, the minimum space deemed necessary for a comfortable existence was 25 sq m. You can see what that feels like tomorrow, Sunday 28 September, 11 am - 1 pm, in a 25 sq m Isokon minimum flat. We ask for a donation of £10 per visitor. There may be a wait. See you then 👋🏼

First Isokon Friday Late: before and during. We’re still open, until 2100.

👇 Come and visit us this evening! 👇

This season at the Isokon Gallery is a busy one! We have four fantastic events coming up. Follow us on Eventbrite for notifications as soon as tickets go on sale 👇🏻 www.eventbrite.com/o/10598755560

The first of our Friday Lates takes place this week on 26 September! We’ll be open from 6-9 pm. Do drop by for a visit.

On the final day of Open House London we visited the BT Tower. Great views over London on a glorious sunny morning from the former revolving restaurant. Note the 1970s menu on display: all in French, as was then the practice for a certain class of restaurant. This one was operated by Butlin’s.

The Mini Guide to Erno Goldfinger is now on sale at the Isokon Gallery. Also available at our online shop isokongallery.org/products/mim...

You might know the Penguin Donkey Mk 1, and even the Mark 2, but have you seen the Mark 3? Designed by Shin and Tomoko Azumi in 2003, this version has a continuous flat surface on top, unlike the earlier iterations. Get yours from the Isokon shop isokongallery.org/products/iso...

Brutalist pier at Deal, which replaced the previous one that was damaged during WW2. Sir W.Halcrow and Partners, opened in 1957. Sculpture at entrance, “Embracing the Sea” by Jon Buck (1998). Cafe by Niall McLaughlin (2008). Named “Pier of the Year” in 2008.

Ever wondered about life in Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseille? www.wallpaper.com/design-inter...

Coming up at Docomomo: a talk on estate map signboards. www.docomomo.org.uk/events/you-a...

Open House at the Isokon was an outstanding success, with more visitors than ever before. We’re now looking forward to doing some Open House visiting of our own in the week ahead 😊

Day one of Open House at the Isokon was a great success. We look forward toward to welcoming another 300 visitors tomorrow, Sunday Sept 14. Do join us, but please be prepared for a long queue (although we’ll do our best to keep you entertained while you wait). programme.openhouse.org.uk/listings/768

Tickets for the Isokon Open House 2025 Raffle are now on sale online. You could win: cocktail hour in an Isokon flat, a Penguin Donkey Mk I, and more. isokongallery.org/collections/...

Some suggestions for your Bauhaus themed trip to Germany: www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...

Recommended by Stylist magazine as one of “the best book-related merch items to shop now”: the Penguin 90th anniversary tote bag, featuring Penguin logos from 1935 to today. Available at the Isokon Gallery, and also from our online shop. isokongallery.org/products/pen...

New in at our shop: the 2026 Brutalist Calendar. They sold out fast last year. Drop in soon and pick up your copy.

On Thursday, 30 October 6:30 pm we’ll be hosting a special screening of the film “Blitzed:The 80s Blitz Kids Story” with its director Michael Donald. A great tie-in with the upcoming exhibition at the Design Museum. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blitzedthe... Enjoy the trailer👇

Photograph by Isokon resident László Moholy-Nagy of the De La Warr Pavilion, with old houses reflected in the windows, at the Sussex Modernism exhibition, Towner Eastbourne.

Today we visited the Towner Eastbourne. On the ground floor, archeologically inspired art by Emii Alrai. On the top floor, Sussex Modernism. Also a superb restaurant, and an excellent gift shop.

Visiting Charleston Farmhouse, artistic retreat of the Bloomsbury Group. In the spacious kitchen, where housekeeper Grace (here painted by Vanessa Bell) spent her career providing them with an Isokon-style ‘very full domestic service’. #modernism

Visit the Isokon Gallery today, 11 to 4, and pick up a penguin (tote) in our shop.

On Sunday 31 August, from 1100-1300, you can visit an Isokon minimum flat, one of Britain’s first tiny homes. First come,first served. We ask for a donation of £10 per visitor

Coming up soon at the Isokon Gallery, the first of our Friday Lates on 26 September, 6-9 pm. Visit us and see the Gallery in a new light.

It’s a month to go, and 2/3 of the tickets have been sold for Owen Hatherley’s talk about Central European émigré modernists in Britain in the 1930s and 40s. At the Isokon Gallery on 25 September. Get your tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/masters-an...

Cutting edge architecture in a difficult environment can lead to maintenance issues. Frank Lloyd Wright “often joked his buildings were like leaving fine art out in the rain.” Fallingwater had leaks right from the start. Nominative determinism? www.washingtonpost.com/home/2025/08...

In a month’s time, in Torquay, Isokon trustees Magnus Englund and Leyla Daybelge will be speaking about Agatha Christie’s time at the Isokon flats, where she stayed during the War. A must for #AgathaChristie fans! 🕵️‍♀️🫆🔎☠️ www.iacf-uk.org/festival-202...

We’re open this weekend. Come and visit! Here’s our recommended book of the day, available at the Isokon Gallery shop and online: “The Alienation Effect: How Central European Émigrés Transformed the British Twentieth Century” by Owen Hatherley. isokongallery.org/products/the...

A fresh look at the Isokon Gallery through the eyes of the Exhibits Explorers. It was such fun making this video! youtu.be/mUubnUqgWG8?...

Barbara Hepworth sculpture to remain in the UK 😊. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Wells Coates, who designed the Isokon flats. This portrait by Lee Miller, 1954. www.npg.org.uk/collections/...

Did you know you can stay at the former home of Sri Lankan modernist architect Geoffrey Bawa, in Colombo? Two suites are now available. www.wallpaper.com/travel/geoff...

Walter Gropius on Britain: “People's humaneness here is so attractive … I am treated with a respect I cannot help liking”. From “The Alienation Effect” by Owen Hatherley, who will be giving a talk at the Isokon Gallery on 25 September. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/masters-an...

Only around 20 of these exquisite Isokon trolleys were made before World War 2. You can see one tomorrow, Sunday August 17, when you visit an Isokon minimum flat between 11 am and 1pm. A £10 donation per visitor would be appreciated.

This plywood trolley was designed by Gerald Summers for the Isokon furniture company. Only 20 were ever produced. thedesignedit.com/object-of-th...

The Isokon Gallery looking lovely this morning. Do come and visit this weekend. Open 1100-1600, Saturday and Sunday.

A bonus talk this season: Owen Hatherley on émigré modernists in Britain, some of whom lived at the Isokon. They include Jacques Groag, who drew the delightful cartoon featuring an Isokon chair www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/masters-an...

“The Alienation Effect: How Central European Émigrés Transformed the British Twentieth Century”, by Owen Hatherley. Now on sale at the Isokon Gallery, in the building where many of those émigrés once lived. Also available from our online shop. isokongallery.org/products/the...

At the Towner Eastbourne: The first major exhibition of Paule Vézelay (1892-1984) in over 40 years, featuring over sixty works from private and public collections. Ends 31 August townereastbourne.org.uk/whats-on/pau...

New in our shop: this card, showing the Isokon flats, from an original linocut by Charis Tsang.

Some original interiors from the Isokon flats, and a show flat, from “View from a Long Chair”, the memoirs of Jack Pritchard. You can visit an Isokon flat on Sunday 3 August, 1100-1300. First come, first served. We ask for a donation of £10 per visitor.

Coming up: Friday Lates at the Isokon Gallery. We’ll be open in the evenings on the last Friday of the month from September to November, 6-9 pm, bringing light into your lives as the days grow shorter. See you there!

At the V&A East Storehouse you can order an Isokon Long Chair for a closer look. We’ve heard that people have even been seen sitting in one. At the time of writing, however, it’s reserved and currently unavailable to book. collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O22774/...

The programme for Open House London 2025 is now online. We’ll be taking part on 13-14 September, with three flats open to visitors. programme.openhouse.org.uk/listings/768

Tomorrow, Sunday 20 July, you can visit one of the Isokon flats from 1100-1300. We ask for a donation of £10 per person visiting the flat. First come first served; there may be a wait.

How does one follow a talk by legendary titan of media and the arts, Sir John Tusa? With one about the renovation of the legendary Bauhaus in Dessau (on 16 October) www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/renovating...

A new guide to the architecture of Kharkhiv, reviewed here. Let’s hope for the best 🤞🏼 www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

The Bauhaus-trained graphic designer George Adams was the subject of one of our previous exhibitions at the Isokon Gallery. 🧵 isokongallery.org/blogs/exhibi...