I agree with everything in the above emotional tirade, except for the public transport situation which is better in Edinburgh than perhaps anywhere else in the UK, with the recently opened speed tram line to the airport – albeit costly – a welcome addition to the already well-functioning network. Yet in general I applaud the portrayal of Edinburgh, which seems to be – just like Warsaw in the essay 'My Kind of Town: Warszava' and many other 20 th century cities – "a little ashamed of itself." Miles Kane: "I don't know if it can get any more bonkers." ". Cambridge News. Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Akin to being in the company of someone with plenty of entertaining tales to tell…. the comradery and spirit of like-minded souls is inspiring.’– Paul Ritchie, Shindig! Magazine

Modernism’s most prolific and persuasive contemporary advocate … One of the joys of Hatherley’s writing is that he so often focuses on the unusual and eccentric.” Owen Hatherley brings to bear a quizzing eye, venomous wit, supple prose, refusal to curry favor, rejection of received ideas, exhaustive knowledge and all-round bolshiness. He travels, self-consciously, in the famous footsteps of J. B. Priestley and Ian Nairn, and there can be no higher praise than to suggest that he proves himself their peer. Jonathan Meades, [for A Guide to the Ruins . . .] There's a very nice juxtaposition in the book in which the careers of Adam Curtis and Mark Fisher are used to interrogate the role of the public intellectual in Britain. One has an über-patrician position within the BBC; the other was an often extremely hard-up, part-time, academic scrabbling around. A brave, incisive, elegant and erudite writer, whose books dissect the contemporary built environment to reveal the political fantasies and social realities it embodies.”Owen Hatherley’s eye is so acute, his architectural expertise so lightly deployed, his sympathies so wide and generous, that reading it is like a tour of a whole world of unsuspected curiosities and richnesses conducted by a guide whose wit is as refreshing as his knowledge is profound Philip Pullman, [for Landscapes of Communism] Paul Jobling and David Crowley argued that the definition of mod can be difficult to pin down, because throughout the subculture's original era, it was "prone to continuous reinvention." [10] They claimed that since the mod scene was so pluralist, the word mod was an umbrella term that covered several distinct sub-scenes. Terry Rawlings argued that mods are difficult to define because the subculture started out as a "mysterious semi-secret world", which the Who's manager Peter Meaden summarised as "clean living under difficult circumstances." [11] History 1958–1969 [ edit ] Hewitt, Paolo. The Sharper Word; A Mod Anthology Helter Skelter Publishing (2007), ISBN 978-1-900924-34-4 What a wonderful book. Mod isn't about what decade you lived in, it's about your attitude, and this book has tons of it' - Kenny Jones, The Small Faces

Ever since I was asked to review his book 'Landscapes of Communism' in 2015, Owen Hatherley has been one of my favourite authors. I have read most of his books – from 'Militant Modernism' (described by The Guardian as an "intelligent and passionately argued attempt to excavate Utopia") to 'Red Metropolis' and the less well known 'Across the Plaza: The Public Voids of the Soviet City'. 'Trans-Europe Express', his comprehensive and witty guide to European architecture, has been my faithful travel companion on a number of trips. His reading teases out the complexities and contradictions of Jacob’s approach to the city, warmly welcoming her return to the street while warning against the complicity of her work with the neo-liberal turn against welfare-state intervention to improve the lives of the many.Debolt, Abbe A.; Baugess, James S., eds. (2011). Encyclopedia of the 1960s: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture [2 volumes]: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture. ABC-CLIO. p.629. ISBN 9781440801020 . Retrieved 10 June 2014. These essays provide a refreshing way to think and talk about buildings, understanding the relationship between form, function and finance. It also offers those of us interested in the future of our cities a range of options for the buildings and streets of tomorrow. The influence of British newspapers on creating the public perception of mods as having a leisure-filled club-going lifestyle can be seen in a 1964 article in the Sunday Times. The paper interviewed a 17-year-old mod who went out clubbing seven nights a week and spent Saturday afternoons shopping for clothes and records. However, few British teens and young adults would have had the time and money to spend this much time going to nightclubs. Paul Jobling and David Crowley argued that most young mods worked 9 to 5 at semi-skilled jobs, which meant that they had much less leisure time and only a modest income to spend during their time off. [52] Fashion [ edit ] Owen Hatherley’s eye is so acute, his architectural expertise so lightly deployed, his sympathies so wide and generous, that reading Landscapes of Communism is like a tour of a whole world of unsuspected curiosities and richnesses conducted by a guide whose wit is as refreshing as his knowledge is profound.” Rawlings, Terry and R. Barnes, Mod: Clean Living Under Very Difficult Circumstances: a Very British Phenomenon (Omnibus Press, 2000), p. 89.

A journey of discovery for a schoolboy dabbling with punk, funk, record shops, discos and clothes, and then… WHAAAM! An unstoppable wave of like-minded kids fall headlong in love with 60s mod culture, revived and reformatted for the 70s and 80s generation.

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Do Je-Hae (10 October 2012). "Mary Quant, British Fashion Icon". The Korea Times . Retrieved 13 April 2023. You write about what was called the blogosphere and how you and many of your contemporaries started off there and recycled a lot of the blog material for your first books. Where did it lead to, the energy of the blogosphere, where do you locate that energy now?

The Mod subculture emerged in London during the early 1960s. Mods created a vibrant, underground youth scene through a set of select nightclubs and boutiques throughout the city, with many located in the West End’s Soho district. In this post-war, post-rationing, and post-national-conscription era, teenage Mods had more disposable income and leisure time than previous generations and made the most of both. Through a sharp, tailored clothing style and energetic, danceable music from the United States and Jamaica, they sought to reinvent what it meant to be young, modern and British. A leading London Mod, Pete Meaden, described the subculture as “clean living under difficult circumstances” because it was a lifestyle that motivated working-class youth to dedicate what money they had to cultivating a smart, turned-out appearance. Jaquest, Oonagh (May 2003). "Jeff Noon on The Modernists". BBC. Archived from the original on 11 January 2009 . Retrieved 11 October 2008.George Melly (5 April 2012). Revolt into Style: The Pop Arts. Faber & Faber. p.120. ISBN 9780571281114 . Retrieved 15 August 2013. Marshall, George (1991). Spirit of '69 - A Skinhead Bible. Dunoon, Scotland: S.T. Publishing. ISBN 978-1-898927-10-5. Hall and Jefferson argued that the presentable image of female mod fashions meant it was easier for young mod women to integrate with the non-subculture aspects of their lives (home, school and work) than for members of other subcultures. [75] The emphasis on clothing and a stylised look for women demonstrated the "same fussiness for detail in clothes" as their male mod counterparts. [75]