This thesis explores the 1951 Festival of Britain as an occasion on which British people were offered the potential for imaginative reconstruction in the aftermath of the Second World War. Specifically, it contends that these exhibitions and events were focused – through their central theme of the Land and the People of Britain – on helping the people of Britain identify post-war with their altered environment. Analysing the structures and design devices through which this was presented: the integration of words, images and objects into the buildings and landscapes of its sites, this thesis shows how they were mobilised to focus British people’s experiences towards a reconfigured idea of Britain, providing a template for removing the immediate memory of war and the longer term impact of the Industrial Revolution, from both the idea and the look of places across Britain.

harriet.atkinson@alumni.rca.ac.uk

Conferences

Building the 'Magical City'? Landscaping and Leisure at the 1951 Festival of Britain, European Association for Urban History, Stockholm University, 2006; A 'New Picturesque'? The Aesthetics of British Reconstruction after World War Two, The Place of Nature in the City in 20th Century in Europe and North America, German Historical Institute, Washington, 2005; Style Wars: the Presentation of Homes at the 1951 Festival of Britain, British Studies Conference, University of California, Berkeley, 2005

Work Experience

Project Manager of gallery development, Orleans House Gallery, Richmond, London, 2002-4; Regeneration and Culture Manager, Association of London Government, London, 2000-2; Policy Adviser, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, London, 1999-2000

Sponsors

Arts and Humanities Research Board Doctoral Award for full-time research, 2004-6; Wingate Scholarship, 2004; European Urban History Association Bursary Award, 2006; Royal Historical Society Travel Award, 2005; German Historical Institute, Washington, Travel Award, 2005