Form Follows Fun: Modernism and Modernity in British Pleasure Architecture 1925–1940

By: Bruce Peter

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Synopsis: Authoritative and readable, this excellent text, illustrated by a unique pictorial record of period architecture, surveys and examines how and why the architecture of pleasure related to the stylistic and ideological concerns of modernism in 1930s Britain. Responding to the current interest in modernism and packed with a substantial archive of high quality photographs and other documentation, it relates the professional, entrepreneurial and institutional infrastructures affecting the pleasure industry’s architectural development and appearance in 1930s. A broad range of building through which the general public first experienced Modernism are covered, including: commercial – holiday camps, cinemas and greyhound racing stadia municipal and governmental projects – zoos, seaside pavilions, concert halls, and imperial and international exhibitions. Arguing that the responses to modernism through the architecture of pleasure were conditioned by wider debates about the role of design in relation to high and mass culture, this book is an ideal resource for all those interested in architectural history and design in Britain between the wars.