iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Sadly I don't have any information about the soft plays! Other than knowing there was the Tiny Tots, the Mini Monsters, and the Mighty Monsters. I don't have any floor plans myself unfortunately; Ayrshire Archives should however now hold the original plans.

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C20 Society @c20society.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Join C20 for Hot off the Press: a study day on the role of architecture magazines – such as Architectural Design, L’Architecture d’aujourd’hui and Casabella – in disseminating ideas and knowledge. 🗓️Sat 7 Nov 2026, 9am-6pm 📍 AB Gallery, Farringdon 🎟️ Tickets: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The final part of my accidental ✨national speaking tour✨ about #IrvineNewTown is this weekend! I'll be speaking at Irvine's Harbour Arts Centre as part of the Ayrshire Landscapes Conference. Come along to hear how Irvine is faring 60 years on from becoming a New Town. Link to tickets in my bio

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Nebo Peklo @nebopeklo.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

I’ve had a few new followers recently so thought it was time for a wee introduction. I’m Natalie, Southsider, midcentury design and concrete lover, mum to two kids, work full time in public sector and illustrate brutalist architecture in my (sparingly) spare time. (Continues 👉)

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Assertive use of Microgramma here

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Initially IDC adhered to a strict monochrome colour palette. Used to its greatest effect in Pennyburn, today this aesthetic survives at its best in The Paddock, a private development of around 35 detached houses, one of which is seen here. Later developments introduced pops of colour. #IrvineNewTown

A modern, single storey house with a mono-pitch roof. The roof’s high point is towards the viewer, making the side facing the camera two storeys high. The ground floor is covered in a knobbly, white render. The upper storey is clad in black horizontal timbers. The house is very simple, stripped of any needless frills — a black box over a white box. A doorway, black, is set back into the white wall, adding depth. A path made of reclaimed setts (cobbles) leads from the viewer, through neatly trimmed grass, to the door. A leafy tree overlooks the scene.

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Yes, definitely Microgramma Bold Extended, though could just as easily be Eurostile with the caps lock on. The subheading is Eurostile Bold Extended. Microgramma famously sci-fi, seen on the Enterprise, in 2001, DeLorean’s Mr Fusion, Moon, Total Recall, Alien…

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Harry Wilkin$ @hs-wilkins.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

GLAD WE ALL STILL AGREE THAT THE JAGUAR XJ-S REMAINS ONE OF THE UK'S FOREMOST CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS.

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

"A huge number are simply demolishing them" Simply indeed, without perhaps thinking of long-term repercussions in the round. These unusual monuments speak to an important time when the car's dominance was sacrosanct and seemed destined to continually rise. If we are not careful, none will be left.

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

One of my favourite pieces of New Town art, and one I still need to see.

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Publication day! A social & architectural history of post-war Scottish new towns: planning & buildings plus community, family, gender, work, education, home. The ebook is FREE via bit.ly/4hLkxn9. Print copy (more attractive!) via www.bloomsbury.com/uk/building-... - do ask libraries to purchase

Cover of 'Building Modern Scotland', listing authors (Alistair Fair, Lynn Abrams, Kat Breen, Miles Glendinning, Diane Watters and Valerie Wright) and showing a group of boys working on their bicycles amid new town housing.

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C20 Society @c20society.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

‘This is the building which often prompts the response “I can’t believe it’s not listed”. Our message for DCMS and the heritage minister, Chris Bryant MP, is: do the right thing.’ C20 in @theguardian.com on the Southbank Centre campaign. www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

theguardian.com

Architecture film sparks new call to list Southbank Centre

Twentieth Century Society wants London landmark to get listed status with brutalism in Oscars spotlight

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RIAS Bookshop @riasbookshop.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

For our next event, we’ll be joined by the authors of ‘Building Modern Scotland’ who’ll be discussing their research into New Towns. Tickets available via Eventbrite

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Alistair Fair @alistairfair.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Over the next week, I'll add to this post to create a thread about the new book I've co-written, 'Building Modern Scotland'. It's a social and architectural history of Scotland's post-war new towns, written collaboratively by a team from @edincollegeofart.bsky.social & Glasgow University (1/..)

Cover of the book 'Building Modern Scotland', showing a group of boys and their bicycles amid new town modernist housing

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Hill Street was made one of a number of 'conservation streets' by Irvine Development Corporation. Here it is in 2024. Earlier plans, proposed by the Burgh Council, included demolishing half of Hill Street, along with other historic thoroughfares, to create a 'ring road'.

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

I'll be posting a few photographs of various parts of #IrvineNewTown over the next few weeks. I'll try to keep it chronological.

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

The initial plan for #IrvineNewTown, prepared by Hugh Wilson (of Cumbernauld fame) was never realised. Wilson proposed capping the Annick Water to the east of Irvine with a concrete deck studded with buildings. The area remains rural today.

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Only four posts about Irvine New Town on the whole platform! Let's change that. Fencedyke, in the northern part of Bourtreehill, encapsulates IDC's housing ethos -- layouts that respond to topography, incorporation of existing mature trees / historic buildings, and block colour finishes.

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Joss Durnan @jossdurnan.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Leaving the Internet's public lavatory wall to join Bluesky like

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