In the context of the exhibition The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture, the CCA presents twenty-four broadcasts from the course A305, History of Architecture and Design 1890–1939, by The Open University. To learn more about the project, visit https://www.cca.qc.ca/A305.
In television broadcast 21, Stephen Bayley takes the cinema as the paradigm of mechanical servicing in architecture. One particular cinema is singled out for detailed analysis: the Astoria, in Finsbury Park, London. The role of the heating and electrical plant is described in detail, which, in conjunction with the bizarre decoration, produced an emotional and physical atmosphere which was for many people their first taste of the convenience and benefits which modern architecture could bring.
Written by Stephen Bayley, directed by Edward Hayward, produced the BBC/Open University, aired 27 September 1975 on BBC2.
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