19. The National Theatre
Denys Lasdun's brutalist theatre
Southwark, London
This visit started with a talk by Barnabas Calder on architect Sir Denys Lasdun and the design of the National Theatre. Lasdun was appointed to design the building in 1963 with no previous experience in theatre design. The design evolution started from the inside out, shaped by consultation with the theatre committee. The project is composed of three theatres which were supported by restaurants, bars, large foyers and all the large mechanical spaces required for backstage production. Internally and externally the building is formed of board marked concrete – the surface texture shows the imprint of the sawn wooden planks used in the casting process, which were supposedly each only used twice, once on each side.