Festival of Britain

The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition which opened in London and around Britain in May 1951. The principal exhibition site was on the south bank of the Thames next to Waterloo station but other exhibitions were held in Poplar, London, east London (Architecture), South Kensington (Science), Glasgow (Industrial Power) as well as travelling exhibitions that toured the country by land and sea. At that time, shortly after the end of World War II, much of London was in ruins and redevelopment was badly needed. The Festival was an attempt to give Britons a feeling of recovery and progress and to promote better-quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities following the war. The Festival also celebrated the centenary of the 1851 Great Exhibition. It was the brainchild of Gerald Barry and the Labour Deputy Leader Herbert Morrison who described it as "a tonic for the Nation".

South Bank

Construction of the South Bank site opened up a new public space, including a riverside walkway, where previously there had been only warehouses. There was, however, opposition to the project from those who believed that the money (£8 million) would have been better spent on housing.

In 1948, young architect Hugh Casson, 38, was appointed director of architecture for the Festival and he broadmindedly sought to appoint other young architects to design its buildings. He was knighted in 1952 for his efforts in relation to the Festival.

The layout of the South Bank site was intended by the organisers to showcase the principals of urban design that would feature in the post-war rebuilding of London and the creation of the New towns. These included multiple levels of buildings, elevated walkways and avoidance of a street grid. The majority of the buildings on the main South Bank site were of the International Modernism style little seen in Britain before the war. The new buildings included the Dome of Discovery (perhaps later the inspiration for the Millennium Dome), the Skylon, an unusual cigar-shaped steel tower supported by cables, the Lion and the Unicorn pavilion celebrating the history of the British nation, and the Guinness Festival Clock.There was also a mural painted by the British Modernist artist John Tunnard and a mosaic designed by Victor Passmore and sculptures by Barbara Hepworth housed at the exhibiton.

Festival Buildings

The main South Bank site buildings and their architects were:

Dome of Discovery, designed by Ralph Tubbs
Transport, designed by Arcon
Festival Administration Building, by Maxwell Fry, Jane Drew and Edward Mills
The Lion and the Unicorn. by R.D.Russell and R.Y.Gooden
Land of Britain. by H.T.Cadbury Brown
Minerals of the Land, by the Architects Co-Partnership
Sea and Ships, by Basil Spence

All the Festival buildings, except the Royal Festival Hall, were later demolished and replaced by other buildings which, together with the Royal Festival Hall, became an arts complex known as The South Bank. However, a public housing estate in Poplar, named the Lansbury Estate after George Lansbury, was built as part of the festival, and is still extant. There is a public house named The Festive Briton (and now called Callaghans) in a corner of Chrisp Street Market, also part of the estate, with The Festival Inn nearby. Also as part of the Festival, Parliament Square was redesigned and extensive improvements were made to Battersea Park.

Events

The Festival was the first time that steelpan music had been played in Britain, thanks to the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra. An exhibition of sculptures organised by the Arts Council in Battersea Park brought Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth to wider public notice. There were two exhibitions at the Whitechapel Art Gallery as part of the Festival Programme: a display on the History of East London and a show of craft and popular art forms.

Legacy

Although the Festival was extremely popular and made a profit, it was conceived and executed in haste and with little thought for subsequent use. The Labour Party, who had championed the Festival, lost power while it was open and Terence Conran has speculated that the haste with which the main site was cleared was an act of political revenge by the incoming Conservative Party government. Profits made from the Festival were retained by the Greater London Council and were used to convert the Royal Festival Hall and to establish The South Bank. Aside from this, the architectural legacy of the Festival is mixed: many architects, especially those working for Local Government, enthusiastically copied its forms and materials, but without too much consideration of their durability, resulting in a stock of buildings that have since been much criticised.

Politically, the Festival of Britain has become a symbol for the incomplete promise of the immediate post-war period. The support of Peter Mandelson for the Millennium Dome project was perhaps an attempt by New Labour to engage with a similar symbolism, the promise of the new Millennium, as Mandelson is the grandson of Herbert Morrison.

Representation

The Festival was filmed by documentary-maker Humphrey Jennings, as Family Portrait. The Festival is featured in scenes in the feature-film Prick Up Your Ears.

Design

The graphic designer for the Festival of Britain was Abram Games who had been Official War Poster artist and whose iconic Britannia symbol of the Festival remains memorable.

External links

1951 | Festivals | History of London | World's Fairs

Festival of Britain | Festival of Britain

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