58-614: The Queen Elizabeth Hall ( QEH ) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical , jazz , and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten . The QEH was built along with the smaller Purcell Room as part of Southbank Centre arts complex. It stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall , which
116-462: A Doctor Who exhibit that was used in several documentaries about the early years of the show, plus a temporary exhibition area. A series of temporary exhibitions were held in the final room at the end of the museum tour: MOMI was housed in a glass-sided steel framed metal-clad building (designed by Bryan Avery of Avery Associates Architects), with red roofs running along each side of Waterloo Bridge . An exhibition called Moving Pictures ran at
174-510: A Victorian magic lanternist and a Hollywood director). A few months before MOMI opened in 1988, the animator Chuck Jones was invited to create a chase sequence directly onto the high walls of the museum. Jones spent several days working on high scaffolding to create the work. At the lowest level on a door was a smaller drawing (not part of the chase) which Jones used to try out the pens. Animation played an important role in MOMI. Channel Four funded
232-486: A massive column containing the emergency escape staircases at the rear. The north-west facade, by Waterloo Bridge, although stained by pollution and rainwater, is a good example of the massive concrete forms popular in 1960s brutalist architecture in Britain. A slightly raised area, resembling a low stage is provided facing Waterloo Bridge. This may have been intended for outdoor performances. A great concrete "prow", encasing
290-689: A statement from the Prime Minister's office (reported in Time Out , in August 2008) cited the importance of the undercroft for these uses. The Southbank Centre, as part of its £120 million proposed Festival Wing development, sought to insert café and shop units in the Undercroft space partly to fund new performance spaces in the new buildings to be built above parts of the Queen Elizabeth Hall and to move
348-548: Is also a consequence of the decision to place all the foyer facilities on a single level, even though there is a significant descent to the auditorium entrance level, and steps are required up to the Purcell Room level. The foyer is an irregular shape to accommodate the angle between the axes of Waterloo Bridge and the north-east side of the RFH. A notable feature of the QEH is the interior of
406-669: Is generally understood to be situated between County Hall in the west to the Oxo Tower on the borough boundary with Southwark , to the east. South Bank consists of a narrow strip of riverside land opposite the City of Westminster and adjoins the Albert Embankment to the west and Bankside in the London Borough of Southwark to the east. As such, the South Bank may be regarded as akin to
464-402: Is generally understood to be situated between County Hall in the west to the Oxo Tower on the borough boundary with Southwark , to the east. South Bank consists of a narrow strip of riverside land opposite the City of Westminster and adjoins the Albert Embankment to the west and Bankside in the London Borough of Southwark to the east. As such, the South Bank may be regarded as akin to
522-633: Is provided at ground level, originally intended to be for visitors set down by car (circulation of traffic under the Waterloo Bridge approach was possible before the Museum of the Moving Image building was constructed in the 1980s) or coming from the car park under the Hayward Gallery. This entrance also appears to have led to the undercroft, but that access is now blocked off. An internal staircase leads to
580-550: The BFI Gallery , which itself was replaced in 2012 by the BFI Reuben Library. The remaining site incorporated the existing three cinemas showcasing the best historical and contemporary film from around the world, a mediatheque of British film and television, and a bookshop within an active programme that includes the annual London Film Festival . Although there was talk that Bradford 's National Media Museum planned to open
638-494: The Channel Four/MOMI animator in residence scheme. Winners of the competition developed a short film in the 'goldfish bowl', a three-meter (10') square glass box; this allowed the public to see the animator's every move. Over forty films were produced and they won many awards worldwide. Prior to opening, the museum bought Marilyn Monroe 's black dress from the 1959 film Some Like It Hot , for £19,800. The event featured on
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#1732847947523696-589: The Festival of Britain . It was renamed 'South Bank' as part of promoting the Festival. The legacy of the festival was mixed, with buildings and exhibits demolished to make way for Jubilee Gardens , while the Royal Festival Hall and The Queen's Walk were retained as part of the Southbank Centre . During the years following the festival the arts and entertainment complex grew with additional facilities, including
754-695: The Festival of Britain . The festival redefined the area as a place for arts and entertainment. The area's attractions includes the County Hall complex, the Sea Life London Aquarium , the London Dungeon , Jubilee Gardens and the London Eye , the Southbank Centre , Royal Festival Hall , National Theatre , and BFI Southbank . Before the Thames was embanked, this area of Lambeth was often flooded, so
812-717: The Purcell Room in the same building has 360 seats. The two auditoriums were designed by a team led by Hubert Bennett , head of the architects department of the Greater London Council , with Jack Whittle, F.G. West and Geoffrey Horsefall. They form part of the Southbank Centre arts complex along with the larger Royal Festival Hall (RFH) and an art gallery, the Hayward Gallery (opened in October 1968). The sculpture Zemran in stainless steel (by William Pye, 1972) stands on
870-610: The Queen Elizabeth Hall , and other arts venues opened along the river such as the Royal National Theatre . The recent developments, particularly the South Bank Place project by Canary Wharf Homes, underscore the ongoing transformation of the South Bank into a vibrant residential and cultural hub, a trend that is set to continue with more riverside projects on the horizon. The South Bank is not formally defined, but
928-562: The Westminster , Golden Jubilee , Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges. The river is utilised as a means of transport with piers along the South Bank at the London Eye, Royal Festival Hall and Bankside. Museum of the Moving Image (London) The Museum of the Moving Image ( MOMI ) was a museum of the history of cinema technology and media sited below Waterloo Bridge in London. It was opened on 15 September 1988 by Prince Charles and at
986-516: The (deeply inset) sweep along the river frontage of the foyer building. The original arrangements provided for circulation above and below the foyer (no longer allowed for security reasons, although the roof terrace has been opened for the Summer of Fun festival in 2011), right around the sides and rear of the two auditoriums, and also a bridge link to the Hayward Gallery. The powerful forms and austere materials are an example of brutalist architecture , and
1044-459: The 18th century the more genteel entertainment of the pleasure gardens had developed. The shallow bank and mud flats were ideal locations for industry and docks and went on to develop as an industrial location in a patchwork of private ownership. The Queen's Walk pedestrianised embankment is part of the Albert Embankment, built not only for public drainage but also to raise the whole tract of land to prevent flooding. Change began in 1917 with
1102-576: The Century'. Telling his broad-ranging experience of the 20th century, Topolski painted the work from 1975 until his death, writing that he hoped to die working on it, with a brush in his hand. It remained open until 2006 in its original state, working with students, but, due to its poor condition, underwent a £3,000,000 conservation and renovation program, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund , private donations and several other grant bodies, and raised by
1160-591: The Crimean War adjoins the 'district'. The undercroft of the Queen Elizabeth Hall has been used by skateboarders since the early 1970s. Originally an architectural dead-spot, it became a landmark of British skateboarding culture, but later was under threat, though supported by the Long Live Southbank campaign. Part of the Southbank Centre was turned into shops looking out over the river. The South Bank
1218-630: The Gods of the Silent Cinema , Charlie Chaplin , The Russian Agit prop Train, Experimental Film , German Expressionism , The coming of sound film , Censorship , Newsreel , The Documentary Movement, Cinema of France , Animation , The Hollywood Studio System, The Great Days of Cinema Going in Britain including Odeon Cinemas , British film , World War II , Cinema architecture, The arrival of television , Expansion of television, Cinema fights television, World Cinema , Television heritage, Television today,
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#17328479475231276-468: The OXO Tower Restaurant run by Harvey Nichols . Gabriel's Wharf is a redeveloped wharf on the South Bank, which has been converted into a shopping area. The London Studios , the former home of ITV faces the Thames and Rambert Dance Company have their new studios on Upper Ground. The Old Vic and Young Vic theatres are nearby. The Florence Nightingale Museum to nursing, medicine and
1334-636: The QEH's case, although the rear stalls are steeply raked, the ceiling is 25 feet (7.6 m) above the highest seats to the ceiling. (Trends in Concert-Hall Acoustics and the Elizabeth Hall C. L. S. Gilford The Musical Times Vol. 109 No 1499 Jan. 1968) There have inevitably been many alterations and adaptation of the Hall, particularly in recent years, involving increasing the size of the platform and rigging extra specialised lighting arrays which allow
1392-534: The Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The Hayward Gallery . The Royal National Theatre, the London IMAX super cinema and BFI Southbank adjoin to the east, but are not strictly part of the centre. Polish-British visual chronicler and artist Feliks Topolski was provided a studio under one of the arches of Hungerford Bridge in 1951, where he worked consistently until his death in 1989. Topolski
1450-542: The Sheffield Millennium Galleries 14 February – 19 May 2002. The exhibition offered a scaled down version of MOMI using actors and items from the museum collection to tell the history of the moving image. It was planned as the first location of a touring exhibition but was not well received and the tour was cancelled. Later in October 2002 the BFI announced it no longer planned to recreate MOMI. The MOMI programme
1508-486: The South Bank, from west to east, at Westminster , Waterloo , Embankment , Blackfriars and Southwark . The development of the Thameslink Blackfriars railway station in the early 2010s, which has access from both the southern and northern side of the river, prompted the additional named signage "for Bankside and South Bank". Accessibility to the north bank is high, with connections made, from west to east, over
1566-501: The air conditioning ducting, protrudes towards the Thames along the side of the auditorium at roof level. The walkway area below this feature is on the roof of a utility building, and a branch of the restaurant chain Wahaca has been installed in a set of containers there, in 2012. Ventilation services are provided from a plant room on the roof of the Purcell Room via a massive concrete duct between
1624-500: The architecture practice Feilden Clegg Bradley. The work does not cover any major cleaning or work to the exteriors. The Arts Council granted £10 million, the remainder being raised by sponsorship, such as seat-naming, and private donations. Although none of these buildings are listed or protected the Southbank Centre has consistently opposed petitions to the government for listing so that it can maintain as much flexibility to make changes as part of future development of this area of
1682-564: The area was slower to develop than the north bank of the Thames. Throughout its history, it has twice functioned as an entertainment district, interspersed by around a hundred years of wharfs, domestic industry and manufacturing being its dominant use. During the Middle Ages this area developed as a place of entertainment outside the formal regulation of the City of London on the north bank; this included theatres, prostitution and bear-baiting . By
1740-614: The artist's son, Daniel Topolski . Reopened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 2009, the Memoir only ran for a year due to commercial pressures and was converted into the Bar Topolski, where some of Topolski's work can still be seen. County Hall was converted into The London Marriott Hotel County Hall , Sea Life London Aquarium and the London Dungeon . The OXO Tower Wharf at the eastern end of South Bank, houses Gallery@Oxo, shops and boutiques, and
1798-422: The buildings leading into the QEH roof, and a concrete tower leading to the concrete duct on the north-east edge of the foyer building roof. The acoustic properties of the Queen Elizabeth Hall are judged to be generally excellent. The acoustical properties of the Hall when examined in 1968 by music critics and engineers following a period of testing, trials and adjustment, were found to be of "general excellence" in
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1856-539: The constrained site and the close proximity of the Royal Festival Hall. In 2013, proposals were commissioned from Feilden Clegg Bradley for the Festival Wing scheme of the Southbank Centre, but this scheme did not proceed. The whole 1960s complex including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery, underwent complete internal refurbishment under the banner "Let the Light In" from 2015 to 2018, to designs by
1914-516: The construction of County Hall, near North Lambeth 's Lower Marsh. which replaced the Lion Brewery. Its Coade stone symbol was retained and placed on a pedestal at Westminster Bridge and is known as the South Bank Lion . The construction of County Hall returned the first section of river frontage to public use. This was extended eastwards in 1951 when a considerable area was redeveloped for
1972-459: The design also highlights the plasticity of concrete. The foyer is at first-floor level, and the foyer building is supported on octagonal reinforced concrete columns , with an undercroft below, and is vee-shaped. The two arms of the vee-shape are linked to the QEH auditorium by cast concrete tubes, reminiscent of a spaceship's docking arrangement. The provision of only two entrances to the auditorium causes congestion and slow exit for audiences. This
2030-433: The early 1970s and it is widely acknowledged to be London's most distinctive and popular skateboarding area. Opened in 1967 as a pedestrian walkway, it was first used by skateboarders in 1973 as the architectural features were found to be perfect for skateboard tricks. Unlike skateparks which are designed specifically with skateboarding and BMX in mind, the undercroft is not a skatepark but a found space, and still considered by
2088-471: The foyer building, with its intimate scale and subtle use of materials, and the terrace overlooking Queen's Walk. The original 1960s cool of this area had been largely lost owing to the intrusion of artificial partitions, to provide smaller areas for various activities by day as well as in the evening, in the 2000s. The extensive foyer was restored during the renovation works of 2016-18, with better integration of access for persons of reduced mobility. The bar area
2146-408: The foyer level from this lower entrance, past the original box office area. Lavatories take up the south-east wall of the foyer building, and are housed in a structure extending out towards the centre access road. The building's appearance works best by night, especially when approached from the eastern one of Golden Jubilee Footbridges beside Hungerford Bridge . After being closed for many years,
2204-660: The front pages of many UK newspapers. There was a busy education department with two education rooms and a small cinema for special events. The museum was available for private hire for corporate events or parties. Galleries in the museum included Tricking the Eye, Shadow puppets , Early optical device, The Phantasmagoria , Optical toys, Photography , Magic lanterns , Projection , Persistence of vision , The arrival of Cinema ( Lumiere Brothers ), Early Technical advances, British Pioneers including Birt Acres , Méliès , The early cinemas World War I , The formation of Hollywood, The Temple to
2262-413: The lower level and the route to Festival Square. A crude disabled ramp, constructed of breeze blocks and bricks, has been added to the walkway between the QEH entrance and the Hayward Gallery. The QEH auditorium is a separate building from the foyer. The auditorium building is aligned with the rear of its stage parallel to Waterloo Bridge and the seating area cantilevered out towards the foyer, supported by
2320-401: The museum's £15m project costs entirely from private sources. Interpretation was done through graphics, interactive exhibits, recreated environments, models, six 35 mm film projections using endless loop platters, two 16 mm film projections, two 70 mm projectors, and over 70 LaserDisc players for video playback. There was also a group of six actors dressed in period costume (e.g.
2378-662: The riverside part of an area known previously as Lambeth Marsh and North Lambeth. There are public open space along the riverside, including Bernie Spain Gardens between the London Studios and the Oxo Tower. The gardens were named after Bernadette Spain, a local community activist who was part of the Coin Street Action Group. The South Bank is a significant arts and entertainment district. The Southbank Centre comprises
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2436-433: The riverside part of an area known previously as Lambeth Marsh and North Lambeth. Throughout its history, it has twice functioned as an entertainment district, interspersed by around a hundred years of wharfs, domestic industry and manufacturing being its dominant use. Change came in 1917 with the construction of County Hall at Lambeth replacing the Lion Brewery. The name South Bank was first widely used in 1951 during
2494-431: The riverside terrace of the QEH. The design of the QEH was intended to show to a high degree the separate masses and elements of the building, to avoid competing with the scale and presence of the RFH. The QEH uses minimal decoration and was designed to allow circulation at multiple levels around the building. The focus is primarily on the internal spaces, which as originally designed had very limited fenestration except for
2552-543: The roof terrace and bridge to the Hayward Gallery were reopened in 2011, with the creation of a new external gallery and a roof garden and café, in partnership with the Eden Project in Cornwall. This reopened one of the most interesting pedestrian circulation possibilities of the original design. The roof terrace is reached by the external concrete staircase at the west corner on Queen's Walk near Festival Pier, which also leads to
2610-467: The site in accordance with its masterplan in the future, the level and standard of restoration and renewal carried out was commensurate with the building's significance and standing. South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames , in the London Borough of Lambeth , central London , England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but
2668-481: The skate space to a new location under Hungerford Bridge about 120 metres away. This was opposed by the Long Live Southbank Campaign which gained the support of Mayor Boris Johnson in early 2014, leading to the suspension of the Festival Wing proposals. Long Live Southbank and the Southbank Centre agreed a refurbishment programme for the Undercroft space which was subsequently carried out. Since 2012,
2726-417: The staging of dance and comedy productions. This had adversely impacted on the Hall's acoustics, in particular in the area of tone and definition by increasing deflection in the platform area. As part of the refurbishment work of 2015-18, a retracting gantry was provided at ceiling level reducing this intrusion when not required. The undercroft of the foyer building has been popular with skateboarders since
2784-527: The studio became a central feature of the South Bank, hosting countless people at his 'Open Studio' Fridays from 3pm, with an open door to whosever wished to pop their head in. Now the Studio functions as an archive and exhibition space operated by Topolski Memoir, the charity set up to preserve the artist's legacy. Topolski was provided with three further arches in 1975 by the Greater London Council (GLC) , where he painted his epic 600ft long, 12-20ft high 'Memoir of
2842-654: The temporary structure A Room for London has been located on top of the auditorium building. The structure, designed by architect David Kohn is described as "a one-bedroom installation" and is shaped to appear like a boat perched on top of a building. In 2005–06, the South Bank Centre and Arts Council considered reconstruction or replacement of the QEH and Purcell Room by two new auditoriums, each of approximately 1,100 seats, one for classical music and one for amplified music and contemporary dance performances. This would have posed significant architectural challenges, given
2900-408: The three key areas of: a) Reverberation Time, which in this Hall is mainly adjusted by opening and closing cavities in the vertical wood panels on both sides, b) Tone and Definition, by allowing diffusion with minimum use of deflectors over the seating area rather than the platform, and finally c) 'Singing' Tone produced here as in all excellent halls by a substantial height of the auditorium which, in
2958-496: The time, was the world's largest museum devoted entirely to cinema and television. The museum formed part of the cultural complex on the South Bank of the River Thames . MOMI was mainly funded by private subscription and operated by the British Film Institute . MOMI was closed in 1999, initially on a supposedly temporary basis, and with the intention of its being relocated to Jubilee Gardens nearby. Its permanent closure
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#17328479475233016-420: The users as a street spot. The area is now used by skateboarders, BMXers , graffiti artists , taggers, photographers, and performance artists , among others. A photographic archive of the graffiti can be found at The Graffiti Archaeology Project. Although this informal activity, social and arts scene is a distinctive feature of the Southbank Centre site, it was proposed that the area would be redeveloped. However
3074-470: Was announced in 2002. MOMI was the brainchild of National Film Theatre Controller Leslie Hardcastle . Hardcastle's vision was realised by significant fundraising by then Director of the BFI, Anthony Smith and a development team including David Francis , David Robinson , Charles Beddow (1929-2012), Chief Technical Officer of the National Film Theatre, and the designer Neal Potter . Smith raised
3132-608: Was built for the Festival of Britain of 1951, and the Hayward Gallery which opened in 1968. The QEH stands on the site of a former shot tower , built as part of a lead works in 1826 and retained for the Festival of Britain . The QEH and the Purcell Room were built together by Higgs and Hill and opened in March 1967. The venue was closed for two years of renovations in September 2015, and reopened in April 2018. The QEH has over 900 seats and
3190-399: Was commissioned to produce a 60ft by 20ft mural under the arch over Belvedere Road for the Festival of Britain , unknowingly painting only two arches up from his eventual studio.[6] Offered to him by David Eccles , it wasn't until 1953 and Queen Elizabeth II's coronation , when the windows from the dismantled annex to Westminster Abbey were repurposed to fit Topolski's studio. Over the years
3248-478: Was discontinued and its site reopened as BFI Southbank on 14 March 2007, providing a new entrance to the National Film Theatre complex. A programme of commissioned artists' moving image work was seen as a better fit for the BFI's remit to promote the moving image in all its forms than that of MOMI: an Exhibitions Department was established and a contemporary art gallery dedicated to the moving image opened,
3306-462: Was extended to the south onto part of the external terrace with new glazing to bring more light into the foyer. The main entrance to the foyer is from walkway level near the north end of the terrace of the RFH. To see the intended effect this should be viewed head-on from the north corner of the RFH. The entrance, in brutalist style, is in the form of a horizontal slit in the concrete structure, with six pairs of cast aluminium doors. A smaller entrance
3364-430: Was the main scene of the 1952 comedy film The Happy Family , set around the Festival of Britain. Part of the success of the area as a visitor attraction is attributed to the high levels of public transport access. Several major railway terminals are within walking distance of the South Bank, on both sides of the river, including Waterloo , Charing Cross and Blackfriars . The London Underground has stations on or near
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