20th century buildings preserved as historic landmarks in England

LONDON - A group of late 20th century buildings in England were given official protection Thursday to help preserve important styles of post-modern buildings.

Historic England announced it has granted listed status to what it describes as 17 bold, playful, brightly colored buildings of the late 1970s to 1990s.

London has won listed status for 11 of the buildings, including two given top level Grade One listing. These are the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery and Thematic House, Kensington and Chelsea.

Including in the London housing projects to be given Grade 2 listing are China Wharf and Swedish Quays, both in Southwark.

The list includes Crown Courts in Cornwall to warehouses in Slough and housing schemes in London's Docklands.

The listings follow research by Historic England into the architectural style, leading to recommendations to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to give the buildings heritage protection.

A spokesperson for Historic England said: "Post-Modern: architecture emerged in the 1970s as a critical reaction to Modernism. In Britain it was closely associated with the economic boom of the 1980s. After a period out of favour, the 2011 exhibition 'Style and Subversion' at the V&A marked a revival of interest in Post-Modernism."

The style was an important strand of late 20th century architecture, but Post-Modern buildings can be vulnerable to change and loss which is why the best examples have been selected for listing, added Historic England.

Duncan Wilson, CEO of Historic England, said: "Post-Modern architecture brought fun and color to our streets. Housing schemes were enlivened with bold facades, a school technology building was decorated with columns designed as screws, a business park injected with glamour. These are scarce survivals of a really influential period of British architecture and these buildings deserve the protection that listing gives them."