The Second World War ended in 1945, but well into the 1950s Britain was still immersed in post-war austerity. The urban landscape was scarred by bomb damage. Design was very drab and basic. The philosophy of the war years had been "Make do and mend" and this ethos persisted into the 1950s.
To show the way forward the government held an exhibition in London entitled the Festival of Britain. It was held in 1951, because that was the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851, which had been such a crucial moment in Victorian Britain. Its real purpose, however, was to look to the future. The Festival promised a brave new world; it was an attempt to stimulate economic recovery and to promote better quality design in the rebuilding of Britain's towns and cities.
The exhibition was held on the south bank of the Thames next to Waterloo station. The Festival was organized by the Labour government that took over after the war. The LabourDeputy Leader at the time was Herbert Morrison who described the Festival as "a tonic for the Nation." It was full of socialist idealism for a new democratic, progressive society. This was the era of the Welfare State: a new political philosophy that said that the state should look after everyone in society. The National Health Service was established. New comprehensive schools were built. This was a very optimistic, idealistic time and the Festival embodied this enthusiasm for the future.
Official Poster
Official posters were circulated widely. The image was very patriotic: it depicts Britannia, the personification of the nation, at the head of the compass. The implication is that Britain is still dominant in the world. In fact, the British Empire was breaking up at this time - India gained independence in 1948.
The director of architecture was Hugh Casson and he hired young architects to design the exhibition buildings. They borrowed ideas from Scandinavian Modernism and from the Bauhaus, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. Most of the buildings were in the Modernist style. Modernism had always been controversial in Britain. The architectural establishment found it too radical. In this new climate of optimism, however, Modernism was finally accepted.
The Dome of Discovery
The Dome of Discovery was designed by Ralph Tubbs. This was the largest dome in the world at the time. It had a diameter of 365 feet. It was constructed from concrete and aluminum in a Modernist style, but with a strong hint of science-fiction iconography. Internally the dome housed exhibitions on the theme of discovery. This was the inspiration for the Millennium Dome in London. Herbert Morrison, who organized the Festival, was the grandfather of Peter Mandelson, a member of the New Labour government and one of the key supporters of the Millennium Dome project. He was clearly hoping to emulate his grandfather's success at the Festival.
The most memorable structure was the Skylon, a 300ft tall cigar-shaped steel tower supported by cables. The tension in the supporting wires allowed it to be suspended in space. Penny Sparke has written that, like Britain's economy at the time, it had no visible means of support. It was floodlit, like a rocket standing on the launch-pad. This was also tapping into contemporary sci-fi imagery. Science fiction and space travel were both major preoccupations in the 1950s.
The space between the pavilions was dominated by public art. The sculpture Youth Advances by Jacob Epstein is symbolic of a new Britain moving forwards. There was also sculpture by Victor Pasmore and Barbara Hepworth, major British artists of the post-war period.
Youth Advances by Jacob Epstein
By organizing the Festival, the government was really trying to control design. To help them do so they set up the Festival Pattern Group to create new domestic designs. The Festival Pattern Group needed to devise a new style that was charged with energy and color. They looked around for a modern source of imagery and found that science provided inspiration. Microscopic images of crystals and chemicals provided a range of dynamic, abstract patterns that were inherently modern, because they were generated by new sciences like crystallography and nuclear physics. This was the Atomic Age, the Space Race was underway. Atomic energy was a major preoccupation in contemporary culture.
These designs are influenced by crystallography and molecular imagery. On the top left you have wallpaper designed by John Line, which is based on the crystalline structure of mica. On the left you have pottery by Peter Wall, based on haemoglobin; dress patterns by British Celanese, based on afwillite. They were displayed alongside real crystals.
Designs by the Festival Pattern Group
The Science Museum was based on atomic structures, including the carbon molecule. This was designed by Brian Peake. The hexagons were made of aluminium and the atoms were copper.
Science Museum
The Festival of Britain was organised by a Labour government. When Churchill's Tory government came to power in 1951 they viewed the Festival as too much of a socialist symbol, so the Dome of Discovery was demolished and the Skylon was sold as scrap metal.
