The Festival of Britain Exhibition of 1951.
"People who were very drably dressed suddenly arrived at the South Bank site and they started smiling and laughing and it was all jolly and they couldn't believe in a worn, grey, bomb damaged Britain, that something like this could happen." .
Sir Terence Conran.
The Festival of Britain, held from May to September 1951, was intended to provide some respite from the aftermath of the Second World War by celebrating the nation's achievements in the arts, industry and science.
The festival has been organised to mark the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and was to be a national event, not just in London's South Bank but all over the country. .
For the first time, the millions of visitors to the Festival of Britain were confronted with a completely modern environment. The exhibitions and buildings presented the contemporary idea of architecture as a single concept linking together spaces and buildings. The new age had arrived and this was what it would look like. The modern interior was to be filled with bright upbeat furnishings, patterned textiles (organic and geometric shapes), and new household products.
For the British government who had been busy building new housing blocks and new towns for the working population it was hoped that the public would be inspired by this new modern design and would go out and buy these new products to improve not only their own standard of living but to also improve the country's economy.
The Festival of Britain inspired everyone to break decisively with the past and have some fun. It put forward an optimistic and progressive view of Britain's future. Contributors included the furniture and textile designers- Robin & Lucienne Day and festival architects- Sir Phillip Powell and Leonard Manasseh.
"I think there really was a feeling around that we were creating a new Britain. It sounds rather innocent but in a way there was a kind of innocence around coupled with optimism.