From our fascination with housing design to the impact of advances in domestic technology, the Twentieth Century Society’s autumn London lecture series will explore the way our built heritage has evolved over the last 100 years. Focussing on what makes the C20 house so different, so special from what came before, the ‘Design for Living: The C20 House’ lecture series celebrates the publication of the C20 Society’s new book 100 Houses 100 Years, to which all the speakers contributed. The lectures will be held at the Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ, on Thursday evenings at 6.30pm. Tickets can be booked via the Twentieth Century’s website www.c20society.org.uk/events and cost £8.00 for C20 Society members, £10 non members, £5 students (includes a glass of wine). 

• Thursday 9th November: Alan Powers: Space in the C20 House: How did the spaces of the C20 house change in response to changing design and living patterns? Alan Powers will explore the interior of the modern house, looking at how new concepts of spatial flexibility - and the technology that supported them - enabled new ways of living. Dr Alan Powers is a trustee and former chairman of the C20 Society and a specialist in twentieth century British art and design. His many books include Modern: the Modern Movement in Britain.

• Thursday 16th November: Kathryn Ferry: Labour-saving Homes: Kathryn Ferry will look at the impact of domestic technology on the design and use of C20 homes. The twentieth century saw huge changes in how houses were run, as electricity, indoor plumbing and ingenious appliances transformed the laborious burden of manual work formerly done by servants or housewives. Kathryn Ferry is an architectural historian, writer and lecturer, and author of The 1950s Kitchen and books on Seaside architecture, bungalows and the Victorian home.
• Thursday 23rd November: Timothy Brittain-Catlin: Trends for the future: Since the latter years of the Twentieth Century, a growing awareness of the limitations of modern building methods and a fresh look at traditions have led to reinterpretations of modernism and the vernacular. What do these houses have to tell us about the future of the modern house? Dr Timothy Brittain-Catlin is an architect, historian, and reader at the University of Kent, and vice-chairman of the C20 Society.
• Thursday 30th November: Neil Jackson: The influence of the steel-framed house: The design of C20 houses were strongly influenced by mid-century American steel-framed houses, typified by the Case Study houses in Los Angeles. Neil Jackson will talk about these iconic designs and the British houses they inspired. Neil Jackson is an architect, architectural historian and Charles Reilly Professor of Architecture at the University of Liverpool.
• Wednesday 6th December: Piers Gough: The architect and the client: Piers Gough will talk about the relationship between architect and client, with particular reference to his house for Janet Street-Porter, which features in the book. How does the process work, how much influence does the client have, how do you persuade them to accept what you think is right - and how do you stay on speaking terms until the end? Piers Gough is an architect, writer and founding partner of CZWG. The work of CZWG also features in a new book on Postmodernism by Geraint Franklin and Elain Harwood, which will be co-published by C20 Society on 7 November and will also be on sale at the lecture.