UK - Bexhill - De La Warr Pavilion Spiral
Barcelona will have to wait till tomorrow as I've managed to leave the files at home. Luckily this shot of the famous spiral stair at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea has been knocking round my hard drive since summer. I've more shots of this great building but they'll have to wait until I've finished my 'virtual' trip to Barcelona.
From Wikipedia : "The De La Warr Pavilion is an International Style building constructed in 1935, considered by some to be in an Art Deco style. Some claim it to be the first major Modernist public building in Britain, although in fact it was preceded by some months by the Dutch-influenced Hornsey Town Hall. It is located in Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England.
The new seafront building was the result of an architectural competition initiated by the Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr, after whom the building was named. The "De La Warr" in both the pavilion's name and the earl's name is pronounced "Delaware" (as in the American state).
The 9th Earl, a committed socialist and Mayor of Bexhill, persuaded Bexhill council to develop the site as a public building. The competition was announced in the Architects Journal in February 1934, with a program that specified an entertainment hall to seat at least 1500 people; a 200-seat restaurant; a reading room; and a lounge. Initially, the budget for the project was limited to £50,000, although this was later raised to £80,000. Run by the Royal Institute of British Architects, this competition attracted over 230 entrants, many of them practicing in the Modernist style."