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Description
By the mid 1930's the international style was in full swing but it proved, argues Dr. Geoffrey Baker, too revolutionary and austere to attract a large section of public taste. Something more exoti...c and showy was demanded, especially for commercial buildings like factories, cinemas and the holiday spirited architecture of sea side resorts. What emerged was often a bastard style with all sorts of references to exotic primitive styles, often part Egyptian, part classical and part modern. Dr. Baker starts with the factory buildings of Thomas Wallis (Hoover, Firsetone, etc.) and traces their principles back to Wallis' training as a classical architect. Sea side architecture is characterised by Blackpool and Frinton showing a range from fairground moderne to buildings by Joseph Emberton, and Oliver Hill which, with their high quality, merge into the international style proper.
By the mid 1930's the international style was in full swing but it proved, argues Dr. Geoffrey Baker, too revolutionary and austere to attract a large section of public taste. Something more exoti...c and showy was demanded, especially for commercial buildings like factories, cinemas and the holiday spirited architecture of sea side resorts. What emerged was often a bastard style with all sorts of references to exotic primitive styles, often part Egyptian, part classical and part modern. Dr. Baker starts with the factory buildings of Thomas Wallis (Hoover, Firsetone, etc.) and traces their principles back to Wallis' training as a classical architect. Sea side architecture is characterised by Blackpool and Frinton showing a range from fairground moderne to buildings by Joseph Emberton, and Oliver Hill which, with their high quality, merge into the international style proper.
| Module code and title: | A305, History of architecture and design 1890-1939 |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A305; 20 |
| First transmission date: | 13-09-1975 |
| Published: | 1975 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:00 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Nick Levinson |
| Contributor: | Geoffrey Baker |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Factory architecture; Firestone factory; Hoover factory; Wallis |
| Subject terms: | Architecture; Architecture, modern |
| Footage description: | Quote from Leslie Martin, a purist, criticising some of the features of moderne and modernistic styles. Baker comments on how these styles were in fact more popular, especially for industrial buildings in England in the 1930s. He looks in detail at the Hoover factory, by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners. Numerous stills of the building. He outlines the classical overtones but also the links with the International style. Various elements - the facade central entrance, canteen and towers - are described in detail. Baker looks at some other more classical designs by Wallis and shows how their monumental block design adds an air of confidence to a building. This is compared with Le Corbusier and the modernist approach, with no ornamentation, etc. Reverting to the Hoover building, Baker describes the tricks, devices, colours and patterns used to enliven the design. This classical composition with its exotic decoration is compared with the academic classicism of the Gillette factory. A film sequence, shot from a moving car, of factories on the Great West Road, designed by Wallis etc. Baker describes them. Baker looks at the Firestone factory in more detail, again stressing Wallis' use of colour, decoration and exotic detail. Stills of the factory. Other modernistic architecture at Blackpool is looked at in still photos. Some houses by Oliver Hill in Frinton are described. Baker points out their closer relation to the International style. Baker sums up on the popular, modernistic style of the '30s, and how it appealed more than the high intellectualism of the International style. |
| Production number: | 00525_3043 |
| Videofinder number: | 1764 |
| Available to public: | no |
