November 1949: The Engineer's coverage of the Festival of Britain's South Bank site shows Britain still wanted to appear pre-eminent in many areas

摘要

The Festival of Britain in 1951 changed London's landscape completely, with the building of what we now know as the South Bank arts complex - the Royal Festival and Queen Elizabeth halls, the Purcell Room, the Hayward Gallery, the British Film Institute and the National Theatre. Yet, despite its current status as the epicentre of the capital's cultural life, the site started out with engineering, science and technology at its centre. In 1949, The Engineer reported on the genesis of the Festival of Britain and what its instigators hoped to achieve. Although the Festival is now perhaps associated with the new beginnings symbolised by the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne in 1952, it was intended to mark the centenary of Prince Albert's Great Exhibition and to instil some optimism during the dreary years of post-war austerity.