Drawing on detailed design, construction and financial histories of six prominent performing arts buildings with budgets ranging from £3.4 million to over £100 million, Geometry and Atmosphere presents unique and valuable insights into the complex process of building for the arts. Of interest to architects, urban designers and those involved in theatre studies, this book will also be useful to other sectors where public money is spent on major building projects.

Contents: Foreword; Introduction, Alan Short and Alistair Fair; 'Almost as important as jobs, housing and education': the context of the publicly funded arts in Britain, Alistair Fair; 'A means of unlocking future opportunity': The Lowry, Salford, Alan Short; 'Defining the essence of the organization through architecture' Contact Theatre, Manchester, Alan Short; 'An exercise in knowing abstemiousness': Poole Arts Centre - 'The Lighthouse', Alan Short and Peter Barrett; 'Making something extraordinary'; Belgrade II, Coventry, Alistair Fair; 'Turn the theatre inside out': Curve, Leicester, Alan Short; 'So fabulously theatrical you can almost chew on it': Hackney Empire, Alan Short and Alistair Fair; 'Many a theatrical scheme has come to grief because it put bricks and mortar before drama': some familiar issues, 1926-1996, Alistair Fair; An architect's photographic view: the design and life of the theatres, Giorgos Artopoulos; Emerging themes, Peter Barrett and Monty Sutrisna; The internal dynamics of the projects, Peter Barrett and Monty Sutrisna; Conclusions, The Research Team; Select bibliography; Index.