Cinemagoing as Architectural Event: Experiencing the architecture of late 1920s and 1930s British cinemas

Newland, P ORCID: 0000-0002-8090-2965 Cinemagoing as Architectural Event: Experiencing the architecture of late 1920s and 1930s British cinemas. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. ISSN 0143-9685 (Accepted)

Text Cinemagoing as Architectural Event_ Experiencing the architecture of late 1920s and 1930s British cinemas.pdf - Accepted Version Access Restricted Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (270kB)

Abstract

This article proposes an understanding of cinemagoing as an architectural event: a historically specific spatial, sensory and social practice in which cinema architecture does not simply provide the setting for film exhibition but participates in producing the event itself. Drawing on Bernard Tschumi’s conception of architecture as event, the article considers how the movement and occupation of architectural space shape the experience of going to the cinema, from approaching the building and entering its foyer to moving through stairways and auditoria, waiting, watching and departing. The article examines how architectural space forms part of the wider cultural practice of cinemagoing.

The argument is developed through a historical study of British cinemas constructed during the late 1920s and 1930s, a period in which purpose-built cinemas became prominent features of British urban and suburban landscapes. The article draws on two forms of historical evidence: souvenir programmes produced for cinema openings, and oral histories of cinemagoers who experienced these buildings. The programmes reveal how architecture was promoted through descriptions of materials, technologies, decorative schemes and spatial design, while oral histories demonstrate the persistence of cinemas as remembered places, with façades, foyers, staircases, balconies, seating and other architectural details often forming a significant part of recollections of ‘going to the pictures’. Taken together, these sources demonstrate that cinema architecture was not merely a container for film exhibition but an active component of the historical experience of cinemagoing. Conceiving cinemagoing as an architectural event therefore offers a way of bringing architectural history and New Cinema History into dialogue, while drawing attention to the spatial and material conditions through which cinema was experienced as a cultural practice.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Institute of Art & Technology (IAT); 1902 Film, Television and Digital Media; 2001 Communication and Media Studies; 2103 Historical Studies; Communication & Media Studies; 3605 Screen and digital media; 4303 Historical studies; 4701 Communication and media studies
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR N Fine Arts > NA Architecture
Divisions:	Art and Creative Industries
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
Date of acceptance:	7 November 2026
Date Deposited:	09 Nov 2026 10:22
Last Modified:	09 Nov 2026 10:22
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29842

View Item