Abstrat view of the angular blocks and architectural elements on the National Theatre in the South Bank London
Abstract view of part of the National Theatre in the Southbank, London . The Royal National Theatre, London, England, is generally known as the National Theatre and commonly as The National. Founded in 1963, it is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company. From its foundation until 1976, the company was based at the Old Vic theatre in Waterloo. The current building was designed by architect Sir Denys Lasdun and contains three stages, which opened individually between 1976 and 1977. It is located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London. The National Theatre building houses three separate auditoria: The Olivier Theatre, The Lyttelton Theatre and The Cottesloe Theatre. The style of the National Theatre building, described by Mark Girouard as "an aesthetic of broken forms" at the time of opening. Architectural opinion was split at the time of construction. Even enthusiastic advocates of the Modern Movement such as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner have found the Béton brut concrete both inside and out overbearing. Most notoriously, Prince Charles described the building in 1988 as "a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London without anyone objecting". Sir John Betjeman, however, a man not noted for his enthusiasm for brutalist architecture, was effusive in his praise and wrote to Lasdun stating that he "gasped with delight at the cube of your theatre in the pale blue sky and a glimpse of St. Paul's to the south of it. It is a lovely work and so good from so many angles, it has that inevitable and finished look that great work does." Despite the controversy, the theatre has been a Grade II listed building since 1994. Although the theatre is often cited as an archetype of Brutalist architecture in England, since Lasdun's death the building has been re-evaluated as having closer links to the work of Le Corbusier that the 1960s Paul Rudolph buildings
Size: 3334px × 5075px
Location: National Theatre in the South Bank London
Photo credit: © John Gaffen 2 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: abstract, architect, architecture, building, concrete, famous, iconic, theatre, tourism, travel
