Unknown artist, Neon signs in Milsom
Street, 1926
J.D.M. Harvey, New Council
Chamber, 1945
Unknown artist, Neon Signs at the Pump Room,
1926
5 April – 1 June 2008
Few people realise that Bath could have all too easily ended up
looking very different, and it is this aspect of the city’s history
that is examined in this major exhibition.
From the time of John Wood, right up to the present day, all
sorts of architectural schemes for the city have been
proposed. Some were wonderful projects that simply
failed through lack of funds or vision, others were too ambitious,
elaborate and grandiose to be feasible, whilst others were
tantamount to vandalism of the Georgian fabric of the city.
This exhibition features two major schemes for Bath that came to
nothing. Firstly plans produced during World War I by London
based architect Robert Atkinson, which included the construction of
a gigantic Roman style ‘Forum’ next to Bath Abbey, with a concert
hall modelled on a Roman temple.
Secondly, the post-World War II plans inspired by town planning
supremo Patrick Abercrombie, to make Bath into a more ‘rationally’
arranged city, with separate zones for leisure, commerce and
health. This would have necessitated the demolition of
swathes of the city centre, and included proposals for dual
carriageways across Bath, and a plan to turn the Royal Crescent
into a new civic centre.
Complementing this material will be plans, drawings and ideas
for a multitude of other schemes, including Victorian idea for
‘improving’ the Royal Crescent lawns with elaborate fountains, a
spoof proposal from the 1930s for covering Bath’s elegant Georgian
Pump Room with neon advertisements, and recent proposals for the
regeneration of the city’s spa.