Tenneson, C., 2019.

Beautiful and Brutal

Now in its 50th year, the Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library and the University of Central Lancashire's (UCLan) In Certain Places are celebrating the iconic Preston Bus Station building - and what it means to people - through a stimulating autumn exhibition.

Designed by local architects, Building Design Partnership in 1969, Preston Bus Station set in concrete an ambitious vision of Preston's future as the major transport hub for Lancashire. It was the largest bus station in Europe, a space-age structure built in the same year as the moon landing, with 80 bus bays and space for 1000 cars. Architects Keith Ingham and Charles Wilson were involved in every aspect of its design, from the delicate concrete curves to shelter passengers and soften its rugged modular form, to its unique Pirelli rubber floor and airport-style signage.

The exhibition will bring together archival material - including previously unseen designs from the archives of BDP ­- with films and literature, juxtaposed against objects associated with the building and the people who use it. Exciting new contemporary art commissions by LOW PROFILE and Keith Harrison will reveal aspects of the architecture on site and in the Harris. Film maker, Anna Raczynski, will record interviews mapping people's memories and opinions from across the city and further afield.