Robert Atkinson, Architect of Cinemas

Location
Lecture Theatre, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts (R14 on map)
Dates
Monday 18 March 2013 (13:00)

This illustrated talk introduces Robert Atkinson as the noted architect of cinemas that he was. Drawing on Atkinson’s theory of and views of architecture, Dr Kate Ince, Reader in French Film and Gender Studies, will examine his work on cinemas in London and Wolverhampton, focusing in particular on his magnum opus the Regent Cinema in Brighton, ‘the first luxury cinema on the American model in Britain…one of the most remarkable British buildings of the 1920s… seat[ing] nearly 3000 people and boast[ing] a restaurant, tea-room, roof-garden, promenade, and ballroom’ (Paul Spencer-Longhurst, 2007).

The talk complements The Barber’s current exhibition ‘Robert Atkinson and the Building of the Barber Institute’ which runs until 5 May 2013, and celebrates plans to equip the Barber’s auditorium to screen film.

Date: Mon 18 Mar, 1pm

Venue:  The Barber Institute of Fine Arts (R14 on map), Lecture Theatre

Booking: Free admission, no booking required

Organiser: Department of Art History, Film and Visual Studies