About this Event
British seaside resorts were booming in the 1920s and 30s as more people won the right to paid holidays and transport options increased. Holidaymakers who had previously been restricted by their local rail routes could now board motor coaches or even take their own motor car to the coast. Competition between resorts intensified with local councils spending vast sums on new attractions that were advertised in the stylish and sun-drenched railway posters we love to this day.In this talk Dr Kathryn Ferry explores how the architecture of our seafronts was updated to reflect changing fashions in leisure. Lidos emerged as a must-have amenity, built on a vast scale to accommodate thousands of spectators and given flat roofs to allow for the new holiday pastime of mass sunbathing. Old fashioned seaside accommodation was replaced by streamlined hotels with Isokon architect Wells Cotes presenting an alternative vision in his Brighton apartment block, Embassy Court. Modern ideas and construction methods were also applied to pier pavilions, dance halls, amusement arcades and even beach huts. So pack your bucket and spade and join Kathryn for a trip to the interwar seaside!
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Isokon Gallery, Lawn Road, London, United Kingdom
GBP 15.00
