The Architecture of British Seaside Piers

The Architecture of British Seaside Piers

Author: Fred Gray

Publisher: The Crowood Press

Published: 2020-09-01

Total Pages: 574

ISBN-13: 1785007149

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Of all the architectural delights of British seaside resorts, the most astonishing and idiosyncratic is the seaside pier. Remarkable visual spectacles, piers are architecturally extraordinary in concept and at times outrageous in execution. They brought together the Victorian genius for technological and material innovation, architectural ambition and engineering ingenuity in the search for new designs for leisure (as well as profit) over the sea. This superbly illustrated book explores the history of the design processes leading to the architectural and engineering innovations that have allowed people to walk on water in such diverse and delightful ways. Coverage includes the development of piers into the crowning architectural glory of British seaside resorts; the key people, materials, inventions and technologies in the field, particularly the work of Eugenius Birch, the greatest pier designer; the remarkable diversity of piers ranging from the earliest simple landing stages, through staid promenade piers and the glories of fully-fledged pleasure piers, to the boisterous joys of funfair and amusement piers; the rich variety of architectural styles, including exotic 'Orientalism' and streamlined Modernism and, finally, today's contemporary prospects for renewal and reinvention.


British Seaside Piers

British Seaside Piers

Author: Anthony Wills

Publisher: Historic England

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13:

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This is the only guide to all 58 extant British seaside piers, including details of location, history and current operations, archive and contemporary photography and a gazetteer.


"Iron, Ornament and Architecture in Victorian Britain "

Author: Paul Dobraszczyk

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 1351562096

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Vilified by leading architectural modernists and Victorian critics alike, mass-produced architectural ornament in iron has received little sustained study since the 1960s; yet it proliferated in Britain in the half century after the building of the Crystal Palace in 1851 - a time when some architects, engineers, manufacturers, and theorists believed that the fusion of iron and ornament would reconcile art and technology and create a new, modern architectural language. Comprehensively illustrated and richly researched, Iron, Ornament and Architecture in Victorian Britain presents the most sustained study to date of the development of mechanised architectural ornament in iron in nineteenth-century architecture, its reception and theorisation by architects, critics and engineers, and the contexts in which it flourished, including industrial buildings, retail and seaside architecture, railway stations, buildings for export and exhibition, and street furniture. Appealing to architects, conservationists, historians and students of nineteenth-century visual culture and the built environment, this book offers new ways of understanding the notion of modernity in Victorian architecture by questioning and re-evaluating both Victorian and modernist understandings of the ideological split between historicism and functionalism, and ornament and structure.


Walking Over the Waves

Walking Over the Waves

Author: Chris Foote Wood

Publisher: Whittles Pub

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9781904445678

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In 2007, author and broadcaster Chris Foote Wood achieved a lifelong ambition - to visit every seaside pier in England, Wales and the Isle of Man - all 56 of them! In words and fascinating pictures he conveys the history, personalities past and present, the stories and legends associated with each seaside pleasure pier. From initial construction to later repair; through storms, shipwrecks and fires that sometimes led to complete destruction; they are all here - the longest, the shortest, the oldest and youngest, the finest to the most mundane. As the author enthuses, "Each pier is different, with its own personality ... some piers are much as they were when they were built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, while others are wholly given over to entertainment and modern amusements. There's something about a pier that has universal appeal to all ages, generations and most nationalities .... Enthusiasts appreciate a pier's form and structure, while most holidaymakers are more concerned about the facilities on offer. Some are content to stroll along the pier deck, enjoying the fresh air, exercise and views over the sea while others immerse themselves in the amusement arcades and funfairs that are a major feature of most of our remaining seaside piers. Food, drink and entertainment are all the more enjoyable when taken 'over the waves'." As well as the piers themselves, Chris describes the pier railways - a welcome facility on some of the longer piers - and their associated cliff lifts. As a bonus, the multitude of facts and information make an ideal quiz - questions and answers are provided!


Designing the Seaside

Designing the Seaside

Author: Fred Gray

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 9781861892744

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"In Designing the Seaside Fred Gray provides a history of seaside architecture from the 18th century to the present day, investigating leisure, entertainment, taste, fashion and gender, and shows how the seaside even became a hotbed for moral and sexual issues - from the early use of bathing machines to twentieth-century beauty pageants and naturist groups. He relates the evolution of resort architecture to sweeping changes in how seaside nature was experienced and used by holidaymakers. The book also traces the history of the coastal resort, with examples ranging from Regency Sidmouth to Victorian Scarborough and early 20th-century Morecambe, as well as assessing seaside developments in the USA and Continental Europe, from Coney Island and Santa Barbara to Nice and Trouville." "Featuring many colourful, informative and often entertaining photographs, drawings, guidebook illustrations, postcards and publicity posters from resorts around the world, Designing the Seaside is a thoroughly readables as well as a visually fascinating account of changing attitudes to holidaymaking and its setting."--BOOK JACKET.


Archigram

Archigram

Author: Archigram (Group)

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press

Published: 1999-09

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 9781568981949

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The title Archigram came from the notion of a more simple and urgent item than a Journal, like a telegram or aerogramme - hence, "archi(tecture)-gram."".


British Piers and Pier Railways

British Piers and Pier Railways

Author: Anthony Poulton-Smith

Publisher: Whittles

Published: 2021-07-30

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9781849954846

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An in-depth look at the piers and pier railways which focuses on those who worked and walked on the pierFeatures the whole history of the pier: planning, funding, design, building, railways, ships, modifications, problems, solutions, but most of all the people who ran it and worked on it


The British Seaside

The British Seaside

Author: Lucinda Gosling

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2017-05-30

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1473862175

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Drawing on the archives of Mary Evans Picture Library, Images of the Past The British Seaside is a nostalgic promenade through the history of Britains seaside resorts from their early genesis as health destinations to their glorious, mid-20th century heyday, subsequent decline and recent regeneration.British coastal resorts developed during a period of vast expansion and social change. Within a century, the bathing phenomenon changed from a cautiously modest immersion in the sea to a pastime that prompted the building of vast art deco temples dedicated to the cult of swimming. Once quiet fishing villages mushroomed into bustling seafronts with every conceivable amusement and facility to entice visitors and secure their loyalty for future visits. Where transport to the coast may have once been via coach and horses or boat, soon thousands of working class day-trippers flooded seaside towns, arriving by the rail network that had so quickly transformed the British landscape. This fascinating book follows these shifts and changes from bathing machines to Butlins holiday camps, told through a compelling mix of photographs, cartoons, illustrations and ephemera with many images previously unpublished.Covering every aspect of the seaside experience whether swimming and sunbathing or sand castles and slot machines The British Seaside reveals the seasides traditions, rich heritage and unique character in all its sandy, sunny, fun-packed glory.


Seaside 100

Seaside 100

Author: Kathryn Ferry

Publisher: Unicorn

Published: 2020-03-20

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781912690848

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Sandcastles, donkeys, piers and sticks of rock. Beach huts, paddle steamers, promenade shelters and ice cream cones. Our modern seaside is the sum of its parts and all those parts have their history. This book explores the best-loved features of our favourite holiday destinations, each object and building adding its own layer to the story of our shared seaside heritage. Using a mixture of historic images and modern photographs the book takes a roughly chronological journey through the things that have made our seaside distinctive. The places where we have chosen to take our holidays for the past three hundred years have been transformed from mere stretches of coastline but they are not like inland towns. Inside these pages can be found a celebration of all that makes our seaside special.