Bleak prospect
At last 1984 is over. Poor Orwell: he really did not deserve all the fuss about the year. As we now know, his book's title was entirely arbitrary and was achieved by transposing digits; had it been published a year later it might have been called 1994. and the Orwell industry would still have much to look forward to. The year 1984 marked several important anniversaries; what has 1985 in store? There are various events to be remem- bered: 1485, the battle of Bosworth and the accession of Henry VII; 1685, James II's accession and the defeat of the Mon- mouth rebellion at Sedgemoor; 1885, the death of Gordon at Khartoum and the fall of Gladstone's government. But the dates which attract attention are the centenaries of births and deaths. Here the prospect is bleak. D. H. Lawrence, born 1885 — as if he had not received enough attention -- and — to the dismay of regular listeners to Radio 3 — Alban Berg, also born 1885. Many, it seems, of the 'pioneers' of the old Modern Movement were born in the 1880s, but we still have a year to go before celebrating the centenary of the German architect Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969). What is surprising is that, as far as many in the architectural establishment are con- cerned, Mies is alive and well.
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