Royal Festival Hall: A Living Icon

Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Royal Festival Hall. 

The Royal Festival Hall (RFH) - an important example of modernism architecture and one of London's best-loved buildings - was built as a beacon of hope and renewal after the Second World War, and quickly became popular. In this new book, a selection of contributors - architects, technicians, musicians, historians, and cultural programmers - tell the varied stories of the building and the people who use it. The book is illustrated with photography specially commissioned from the renowned architectural photographer, Edmund Sumner, and contains 21 written contributions on different aspects of the RFH, from its history as a piece of architecture to the story of the famous organ, from the approach to literature and spoken word to the life of the production team. The building's emergence as a destination for all, whether to enjoy a performance by a world-famous symphony orchestra, a dance class, a poetry reading, or just a cup of coffee, is considered in the context of the intentions of its original planners and those who have led, maintained, and refurbished it since. 

This book offers an invaluable record of the history of this celebrated building in the first 75 years of its life, and looks to its future as a center of cultural programming - both weathering and shaping change - for many more decades to come. 

• Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Royal Festival Hall
• Written by architects, musicians, and technicians who have been closely involved with the building and its renovation.
• A fascinating and thought-provoking book for anyone interested in the development of London's cultural life. 

Sandy Rattray is an architectural historian, author, and governor of the Southbank Centre, and was a director of the architectural firm Allies and Morrison.

Eleanor Jolliffe is an architect, columnist, and author, and in 2023 was awarded the Rome Scholarship in Architecture. She is an associate at the architectural firm Allies and Morrison, and leads the firm's architect work at the Royal Festival Hall. 

Edmund Sumner is a leading architectural photographer who collaborates with major architects, publishers, editors, and curators all over the world. 

Dan Cruickshank is an architectural historian and television presenter. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a member of the Executive Committee of the Georgian Group, and on the Architectural Panel of the National Trust.