The story of the Royal Festival Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall begins after the end of the Second World War. With the allies victorious, the British Government is determined to restore London to its full glory, after it had suffered a tremendous amount of destruction due to bombing Raids, leaving much of london in ruin and in desperate need of reconstruction.
From the year 1947 to 1948 the British government planned the Festival of Britain, which was to be held across the country, but centered in the Southbank of the river Thames, London. The purpose of the Festival was to ignite the feeling of recovery after the war in the British public, with major focus of the festival to be upon science, technology, art and architecture. As well …show more content…
The Hall itself was designed by Leslie Martin, Peter Moro, and Robert Matthews all of whom at the time worked in Architecture Department of London County Council. Perhaps the most important part in the RF Halls development was the fact that the commissioning architect Hugh Casson would not compromise on his decision to only use architects of the new generation, most of whom were relatively young, with all of them being under 45 years old. Making the team very openminded to new approaches, technologies and ideas in architecture at the time, especially modernist ones. Which caused the buildings to become a beacon of Modernism in a post war Britain.
The Royal Festival Hall doors officially opened on the 3rd of May 1951,where guests such as the royal family at the time (King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) were greeted by a gala concert.
"I was overwhelmed by a shock of breathless delight at the originality and beauty of the interior. It felt as if I had been instantly transported far into the future and that I was on another planet,"
First Impression of the building by Bernard …show more content…
The concert hall had major changes done to it, with the main stage being reformed into more linear and rectangular shape, and the seating space of entire hall reduced by about 100 seats. After further advice the material covering the surface walls of the concert hall was replaced to reflect and resonate the sound rather than absorb it and the panels around the concert hall were realigned to have the same effect. In addition the new design focused on the performance and the experience of the building itself, with new infrastructure being added, such as workspaces and lifts, to aid the performance on stage, and a new cooling system of the hall. Also many shops and restaurants were added to the front of the building by the South Bank, increasing the activities and the appeal of the area to the
From the year 1947 to 1948 the British government planned the Festival of Britain, which was to be held across the country, but centered in the Southbank of the river Thames, London. The purpose of the Festival was to ignite the feeling of recovery after the war in the British public, with major focus of the festival to be upon science, technology, art and architecture. As well …show more content…
The Hall itself was designed by Leslie Martin, Peter Moro, and Robert Matthews all of whom at the time worked in Architecture Department of London County Council. Perhaps the most important part in the RF Halls development was the fact that the commissioning architect Hugh Casson would not compromise on his decision to only use architects of the new generation, most of whom were relatively young, with all of them being under 45 years old. Making the team very openminded to new approaches, technologies and ideas in architecture at the time, especially modernist ones. Which caused the buildings to become a beacon of Modernism in a post war Britain.
The Royal Festival Hall doors officially opened on the 3rd of May 1951,where guests such as the royal family at the time (King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) were greeted by a gala concert.
"I was overwhelmed by a shock of breathless delight at the originality and beauty of the interior. It felt as if I had been instantly transported far into the future and that I was on another planet,"
First Impression of the building by Bernard …show more content…
The concert hall had major changes done to it, with the main stage being reformed into more linear and rectangular shape, and the seating space of entire hall reduced by about 100 seats. After further advice the material covering the surface walls of the concert hall was replaced to reflect and resonate the sound rather than absorb it and the panels around the concert hall were realigned to have the same effect. In addition the new design focused on the performance and the experience of the building itself, with new infrastructure being added, such as workspaces and lifts, to aid the performance on stage, and a new cooling system of the hall. Also many shops and restaurants were added to the front of the building by the South Bank, increasing the activities and the appeal of the area to the