British Kinematography (1951)

108 Vol. 18, No. 4 PLANNING THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN TELEKINEMA Wells Coates, O.B.E., Ph.D., F.R.I.B.A. Read to the 8.K.S Theatre Division on October 8, 1950. WHEN the Festival authorities laid down their programme for this building in August, 1949, no one was very sure about a name to describe a theatre for the projection of television and film material on to a picture screen. Somewhat haphazardly it came to be called the Telecinema. I asked for some suggestions, some ideas for a new name for a new kind of theatre, a place of entertainment and possibly, too, of instruction, which might in the future become a normal component of social life. Within a matter of days, Mr. Ivor Brown, writing in the Observer under the heading " Fun and Names," said: — The Festival of 1951 is to have in London on the South Bank a new building which will show both films and television. Such doublepurpose halls are likely to become more numerous as television wins its way against its still jealous rivals. Mr. Wells Coates, the appointed architect, is at present thinking of " Telekinema." Will that attract? It frees us from the Greek and' Latin muddle of television, which should be teleoptics, and gives us a wholly Hellenic collision, roughly meaning " far-movey." And, although Mr. Douglas Young, Scottish champion of the native tongue, puts Far-Speak instead of Telephone on his notepaper, it is doubtful whether the public would welcome the rusticsounding Far-Movey on the Bankside. I do not propose to inflict upon you all the curious combinations of words, the collisions of many kinds, which came to me via this paragraph : an all-time low was registered, I think, by one correspondent with ' Videtorium." An irate novelist was against any architect messing about with the English language and claimed that " Cinema " was accepted usage, and so " Telecinema " quite proper and in no sense to be interfered with ! The matter was referred to the highest authority — Mr. Gerald Barry, the DirectorGeneral of the Festival — and the final de cision was that Telekinema — that " wholly Hellenic collision " — was to be used for the fascia sign. Functional Design This mention of " collisions " is perhaps more apt than one may imagine as an introduction to this paper. The Festival Telekinema is indeed the result of a number of collisions, or should it be said that it is the moulding together of a number of seemingly colliding forces into a recognizable and significant form which, functionally, does its job, and, architecturally, reveals its function in a logical and, it is hoped, a pleasant way. For myself, and for all the technicians who have enthusiastically assisted me in planning this building, the whole job has been considered as a kind of laboratory experiment. It is hoped that the experiment will succeed ; if it fails, it will have been in a good spirit and a gay mood. I propose to approach this subject by setting out, first, the general conditions which were placed before me by the Festival authority— the " operational requirements," so to speak, for the building. Secondly, I shall describe how these requirements were translated, in a geometric-planning sense, having regard also to the particular conditions of the site itself. Lastly, we shall describe the special equipment of the building in general terms ; more specific information will be given to you by the experts of the firms most closely associated with the equipment.* Requirements of Telekinema The Festival Authority, in the person of Mr. Hugh Casson, Director of Architecture, set out in very broad terms the conditions for the Festival kinema : — * To form the subject of papers in later issues of this journal.