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 Daily
Mail Ideal Home Show
The
Tower of Time:
Mirroring five decades of British style
Dateline: 6th March 2003
Since the beginning of the last
century, home making has developed from a functional necessity
into a national passion. The last fifty years in particular
has witnessed a radical re-appraisal in our attitudes towards
our homes. Throughout its history, the Daily Mail Ideal Home
Show has been at the forefront of mass-market trends and influences
and has entertained educated and made people think.
March 2003 will see the Show
truly embrace the past fifty years of cultural and social attitudes,
technological developments and design innovations. A spectacular
16-metre high central glass tower, the Tower of Time, will form
the ultra-modern exterior of an interactive, reflective and
predictive time machine. Made from mirrors and mesh, the Tower's
imposing presence will dominate the Show and capture within
it the best of our most treasured possessions from the fifties
to the noughties and beyond.
Find Changing
Rooms books at BBC Shop.com
Theatre, architecture, and technology
will be harnessed to create stunning room sets of our life and
times, epitomising the interior design and household product inventions
of the decades. Five celebrity interior designers will each transform
a time chamber, drawing inspiration from the nation's favourite
moods and passions from that era. For example, the swinging sixties
room-set will display a heady mix of music, narrative, theatrical
effects and objects that combine to capture the essence of the
decade. Minis, mopeds, guitars and lava lamps will all take their
place in the fashionable room set.
Each 'time chamber' will have
its own representative, dressed in the relevant fashions to
guide the visitors through the sounds and images of the era.
Video narratives of the designer that created each set, will
be played on the technology of the time, ranging from the early
TV sets of the 60s to the plasma screens of the present and
beyond to holograms of the future.
Surrounding the glass tower will
be hundreds of exhibitors unveiling their latest and greatest
design concepts. These will include a Tempur matress, devised
with cutting edge NASA technology and the ingenious Besk, a
bed and desk combined for space-saving. Visitors can test and
buy from the best of interior designs and check out the latest
in gadget technology.
Evolving
decades of style
(published within Ideal Home Through the 20th Century Official
Publication)
- 1908 - The first Daily
Mail Ideal Home Show opened.
- 1955 - DIY has started
to become very popular and in the first DIY Theatre it was
promoted not just to save money, but also as a therapy after
convalescence or having to adjust to a new lifestyle after
a major operation.
- 1958 - Kitchen-come-living-room
areas were much sought-after interior features. Blue and cherry-red
were favourite colours and wallpaper was used heavily on walls
and ceilings.
- 1960 - Pop stars, Adam
Faith and Connie Francis opened a gas cooker at the show.
The ultimate in sixties chic was a white plastic table and
matching chairs, which could be used inside or out on the
patio.
- 1972 - American-style
family rooms were a very popular attraction. Bright garish
colours and patterns, and lots of space to relax and entertain
as well as cook. Highlights for inventions included a swivelling
screen TV with the works hidden in a drawer and a combined
bed-warmer, table lamp, inspection lamp, vaporiser and feeding
bottle heater.
- 1987 - Fully fitted
kitchens where everything was stored away out of sight were
very popular in the 1980's Gas hob covers were a must.
- 1992 - John Major,
accompanied by his wife Norma opened the show promoting an
image of home-loving ordinariness that was a winner with the
public.
For more events in London click
here.
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