Concrete Dreams: sharing the bold transformation of Newcastle in the 1960s and '70s

Take a unique voyage into Newcastle and Tyneside’s modernist past by visiting Concrete Dreams at the Farrell Centre.

Concrete Dreams puts into focus vast infrastructure projects like the Central Motorway and the Newcastle Civic Centre, as well as the everyday world of new schools, libraries and housing that were part of Newcastle’s radical transformation in the 1960s and 1970s.

Across exhibitions, installations, events and an education programme, the project explores the ideals and aspirations behind the transformations and their lasting impact on the city today, asking how we can build on these legacies to remake Tyneside—and the world—amid current challenges.

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Exhibitions

Brasília of the North - September 19, 2024–June 1, 2025

This evolving exhibition explores the social, cultural and political climate that shaped early aspirations of Newcastle becoming the “Brasília of the North”. It brings together objects, drawings, documents, and images relating to the city’s 1960s and 1970s transformations.

Alison’s Room: An Extended Reality Archive by Paula Strunden - September 19–December 20, 2024

Artist and researcher Paula Strunden presents an immersive reality experience of architect Alison Smithson’s re-created workroom. Alison, with her husband Peter, became a key figure in post-war British architecture after studying at Newcastle in the 1940s. The installation combines Alison’s influential designs with objects, furniture, and a talking cat, reflecting Strunden’s research into immersive, history-based design.

Education programme

Concretopias

Students from three local schools are exploring significant architectural sites from the 1960s and 1970s: Trinity Square in Gateshead, Felling Swimming Baths and the Byker Estate. Working with Newcastle University lecturers, artists and the theatre group Cap-a-Pie, they are discovering the roles of these architectural projects in shaping their local areas, creating maps, drawings and recording oral histories.

Material Change—Masters Studio

Concrete Dreams provides a backdrop for teaching at Newcastle University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. Inspired by the project, the postgraduate Architecture studio ‘Material Change,’ will allow students to explore how they can apply new themes and materials to reimagine spaces in Newcastle’s central and eastern fringes.

Public talks

See a series of events with expert speakers tackling the big questions and key issues around Tyneside’s 1960s and 1970s transformations.