The Twentieth Century Society’s Coming of Age campaign.

The Twentieth Century Society’s Coming of Age campaign.

When I first photographed Ted Cullinan’s library at St John’s College, I felt a sense of quiet belonging, to a place, to an idea, and to a family story. My father and grandfather had both studied there, and the act of making those photographs felt like completing a circle.

Cullinan’s library embodied everything that makes Cambridge extraordinary: a deep respect for history held in balance with invention, craftsmanship, and light.

That the Twentieth Century Society is now campaigning to have it listed feels both timely and essential. This building, modest yet speaking to a cultural tradition of centuries, represents a moment when architecture was grounded in values, of community, learning, and environmental sensitivity, that feel more relevant today than ever.

To protect it is not simply to preserve the past, but to recognise a living legacy: a building that continues to teach, to shelter, and to inspire, part of generations of learning within those same courts.

Coming of Age, Twentieth Century Society