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Notes
1 ‘Strata’ is a geological term that Lasdun employed in order to describe the series of terraces that encircle his buildings (see Lasdun and Hall Citation1976). The use of this term exemplifies Lasdun's interest in rock formations (see Curtis Citation1994: 228).
2 For example, the associate director of the National Theatre Jonathan Miller, before he resigned in 1975, characterized the building as ‘a mixture of Gatwick airport [London, United Kingdom] and Brent Cross shopping centre [London, United Kingdom]’ (Haill and Wood Citation1998, unpaged). In 1976, The Economist weekly newspaper claimed that the building emanates ‘a strongly militaristic flavour rather like an aircraft carrier in collision with a Norman keep’ (cited in Haworth and Tompkins Citation2008: 42-4). In 1988, Charles, Prince of Wales, proclaimed the design of the National Theatre as ‘a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London without anyone objecting’ (1989: 45).
3 Part of the inner courtyard can be viewed through the windows of the Wardrobe Room at Baylis Terrace in the south-west side of the building.
4 The rough concrete of the building's surfaces that have not been coated with plaster and colour give an impression of being ‘unfinished’. The ‘unfinished’ character of the building had become puzzling for the first visitors who entered the space, as the following anecdote mentioned by the architect Bryan Lawson manifests. In his first visit to the National Theatre's foyer when the theatre had just opened, Lawson overheard two old ladies discussing the new National Theatre. When one of them asked the other what she thought about the new building, the second replied: ‘I suppose it will be alright when it's finished’ (Lawson Citation2006: 29). Certainly the fact that the building was not entirely finished when it first accepted the public, in October 1976, contributed to the anticipation of the audience for the building's completion. The first theatre stage that opened was the Lyttelton Theatre in March 1976, followed by the Olivier Theatre in October the same year and last was the Cottesloe in March the next year. Nevertheless, the main factor that placed and possibly still places the visitor in an ambivalent position is related to the texture of the building's concrete skeleton.
5 In Space in Performance: Making meaning in the theatre McAuley observes the ambivalent relationship between theatre and power, and the disempowerment of the audience encountering a monumental theatre building (see McAuley Citation2000: 48-51).
6 The concrete is also used as a material to signify the spatial hierarchies of Lasdun's design. The distinction between private and public is greatly manifested at the design of the back (south-east) and front (north-west) of the building, and it is established by the discontinuation of the concrete.
7 For example, in his writings in the period 1920-4, the pioneer of modern architecture Le Corbusier had advocated that material faults or staining were unacceptable; they were marks of the ‘dead things’ from the past that should be eradicated (see Le Corbusier Citation1987: 189).
8 I borrow this term from Robert Sommer's analysis of what he called a ‘hard architecture’ (see Sommer Citation1974).
9 FlyTower was commissioned by the National Theatre, produced by Artsadmin (see Artsadmin), supported by Arts Council England and sponsored by Bloomberg. Ackroyd and Harvey have been working together since 1990 and their artwork, mainly sculpture and photography, involves architecture and science; their approach focuses on ecological issues and climate change (see Ackroyd and Harvey).
10 The two sides of the fly-tower were considered more important than the south and east sides, given that these sides have less impact on the riverside walkway and the Waterloo Bridge.
11 The architects have also to confront graffiti that occasionally appears on the building's exterior; they consider it to be ‘a growing problem’ that needs to be removed as soon as possible so to not encourage further ‘attacks’ (Haworth and Tompkins Citation2008: 81).