Designed to Belong: Modernism, Industry and Community

Belonging is not accidental - it is designed. This panel explores how architecture shapes belonging, not just by providing shelter, but by structuring everyday life.

Using the Bata village at East Tilbury as a starting point, it examines how modernist ideals, industrial ambition and community planning created a distinctive model of living. Historian Milan Balaban situates the settlement within the global story of Bata cities, while architectural historian Gillian Darley reflects on its significance for British modernism. Mick Pinion from the Bata Heritage Centre brings a local and heritage perspective on East Tilbury’s development and legacy, and architect Ondřej Chybík discusses contemporary lessons for urban planning. Chaired by John Tusa, the conversation links historical experiments to today’s questions of development, identity and place-making.

SPEAKERS:

Sir John Tusa is a British arts administrator, author, journalist and former presenter of the BBC’s Newsnight. Gillian Darley OBE is a widely published writer and historian who was President of the Twentieth Century Society from 2014 until 2021. Milan Balaban is a historian specializing in business, economic, and industrial history, with a focus on the global Bata Company network.

Admission: £5 (+ Eventbrite fee)

Part of London Festival of Architecture.

The talk is an accompanying event to the exhibition Desire to Create: Baťa's Architecture of Belonging, presented at the Vitrínka Gallery.