Issue 56 PLEASURE
Glitterballs at the ready! Issue 56 is our invitation to remember that design isn’t just about function – it’s also about PLEASURE.
From amusement arcades to swimming baths, motor sport tracks to milk bars, this issue is a celebration of how modernism shapes the way we play, relax and enjoy ourselves. So dive in, turn the page and let PLEASURE lead the way – because fun is serious business.
the modernist magazine is available on-line and at selected magazine shops.
the modernist issue 56 was published in February 2026 and features essays, articles and pictures:
Emilia Chegini celebrates the everyday joy and mundanity of the K67 kiosk.
For Kathryn Ferry there are overlooked modernist gems amongst the ever-changing Golden Mile in Blackpool. The quintessential pleasure-scape.
Benjamin Carter documents the National Recreation Centre in Crystal Palace - a modernist glass and concrete complex with a hopeful future.
Alexandra van der Essen takes us to Southern Vietnam and expressions of it's unique modernist identity via the medium of decaying cinemas.
Motor sport is the name of the game for Rich Duisberg. In rural northern France we take a tour of a historic motor sport venue, where the angular functionality of concrete jars against the agricultural lands.
Ashlyn Hochschild shares a photographic diary of a day spent exploring the Internationales Congress Centrum in Berlin.
Martha Lineham delves into the design history, visual culture and atmospheric qualities of the glitterball.
The Horn Milk Bar, a rare example of a cafe that has remained steadfastly the same since it's inception is the focus of Michael Revill's visual essay.
For Ben Britton the history of a London housing estate's play provision shows how concrete ducks and headless men intermingle to create myth, memory and monster mazes!
Charlotte Banks' fascinating account of Tallinn's Song Festival Stage - a hulking parabaloid structure - speaks of the interplay between site, song and national identity.
Jet O'Rourke introduces us to Huub van der Pennen's civic modernism in Adelaide's municipal parks.
Amy Kennedy subverts planning paradigms by reminding us how overlooked underpasses have long been the haunt for DIY skateboarding culture.
Matthew Dransfield takes an overview of Scottish sports venues by drawing parallels between the 1960s Dollan Baths and the 21st Century Oriam. Both are examples of Scotland punches above its weight when it comes to sporting ambition and design.
the modernist magazine is available on-line and at selected magazine shops.
Image Credits
Ben Britton - Grahame Park Estate playforms
Emilia Chegini - K67 Kiosk
Rich Duisberg - Reims-Gueux Circuit
Michael Revill - The Horn Milk Bar
Kathryn Ferry - Moulded mosaic panel depicting a chimpanzee by Jeanne and Paul Mount for Blackpool Tower