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Designing Britain 1945 - 1975
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Exhibiting Britain
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Expo '67
> Expo Response & Critique
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EXPO '67 RESPONSE & CRITIQUE
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The response to the British Pavilion was mixed, particularly from the architecture and design press. Most critics felt that the building was a disappointment and compared badly with some of the other national pavilions which were more daring in their design.
The critic of the Architectural Review noted:
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Unexpectedly old-fashioned looking exterior, lacking the inspiration of a design – like the Germans – derived from structural disciplines…It stands up well on its water-bounded site (though the intended symbolism of this and of its broken-off tower does not really tell), and its height achieves the purpose of being prominent in distant views, especially because of the eye-catching three-dimensional union jack top – a brilliant piece of design by F.H.K.Henrion…
Anon, ‘Great Britain’, Architectural Review, 8/67, 19.
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Fortunately the Pavilion’s contents were deemed more worthy of praise, especially Gardner’s work on ‘Britain Today’.
Werner Herdeg writing in Graphis commented:
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A self-satisfied touch in some sectors is compensated by a refreshing approach in Britain Today, where the British make fun of their own foibles. The moulded figures here are a special success.
W.Herdeg, ‘The world exhibition in Montreal from a designer’s point of view’, Graphis, 23, 1967
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| Whilst Design’s commentator added: |
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| [that] Britain Today was almost the only example of Expo which is also self critical |
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| which suggests that Gardner had achieved exactly the effect for which he had aimed. |
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