Architecture and Leisure
In this episode we talk about spaces for leisure and socialising. The pandemic radically altered our experience of public spaces for socialising. Now we are out of lockdown and spaces for nightlife and indoor socialising are open again, they have taken on new meanings and significance. Therefore, we wanted to look at how spaces for leisure and socialising have always been shaped by the cultural values, social norms and fashions of a time.
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Fig 1: Newcastle Mayfair Ballroom, November 1961, Courtesy of: the Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums
Contributers:
Dr James Nott is Lecturer in the School of History at the University of St Andrews. James is a social and cultural historian. His book Going to the Palais: A Social and Cultural History of Dancing and Dance Halls in Britain, 1918-1960 was published in 2015.
Dr Catharine Rossi is Associate Professor in Design History at Kingston University. Catherine’s research interests range from craft to nightclubs and in 2018 she co-curated an exhibition titled Night Fever: Designing Club Culture 1960 to Today which opened at the Vitra Design Museum and toured various museums, most recently the V&A Dundee in May 2021.
Dr Alistair Fair is Reader in Architectural History at The University of Edinburgh. Alistair is interested in the relationship between architecture and wider social and political history, his book Modern Playhouses: An Architectural History of Britain’s New Theatres, 1945-1985 was published in 2018.
Your hosts were Matthew Lloyd Roberts and Dr Jessica Kelly, and this project was devised with Neal Shasore. This podcast is produced by Front Ear Podcasts.