Final Activity Report Summary - SPORTS ARCHITECTURE (European sports architecture during the interwar period: reflect of European political systems. The British example.)
This research aimed to compare the policies concerning the construction of sports facilities and aestheticism in sports architecture in Great Britain during the inter-war period. The project studied how sport served to define a collective identity in Europe. The main research question focussed on the politicisation of sport, i.e. on the specificity of British sport in relation to other European countries.
From the study of sports facilities it was shown that they expressed the particular meaning given to sport in Britain. The study showed that in the inter-war context, while countries such as Italy and Germany deliberately used sport as a means of propaganda, Britain found herself torn between her national tradition of sport, which implied that sport was considered to be a private matter, and the international tendency of the time, which pushed the state to promote sport and physical education for the peoples health and states diplomatic wealth.
From the study of sports facilities it was shown that they expressed the particular meaning given to sport in Britain. The study showed that in the inter-war context, while countries such as Italy and Germany deliberately used sport as a means of propaganda, Britain found herself torn between her national tradition of sport, which implied that sport was considered to be a private matter, and the international tendency of the time, which pushed the state to promote sport and physical education for the peoples health and states diplomatic wealth.