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Skylon

Skylon was a futuristic steel tensegrity structure with a slender, vertical, cigar-like form, located near the River Thames in London. Created for the 1951 Festival of Britain, it gave the illusion of floating above the ground and became one of the event’s most memorable structures. Despite its popularity, it was dismantled in 1952 when the rest of the exhibition was taken down. Its removal was ordered by Winston Churchill, who saw the Festival and its buildings as symbols of the previous Labour government’s vision for a new socialist Britain. The base is preserved at the Museum of London, while some vent covers survive in a private collection. The former site is now part of a riverside promenade near the London Eye and Jubilee Gardens.

The Skylon, a tall slender pointed framework structure, rises against a bright sky.
The Skylon at the 1951 South Bank Exhibition, shown as a towering slender structure against the sky.
August 1951 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Skylon stands as a tall, slender latticework sculpture against the sky.
The Skylon at the Festival of Britain, shown as a tall steel lattice structure.
July 1951 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Skylon rises as a tall, slender lattice spire above buildings by the Thames.
The Skylon at the 1951 Festival of Britain, seen towering over the exhibition buildings near the river.
July 1951 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Skylon rising vertically against the sky, with curved stacked segments and nearby structural beams in the foreground.
The Skylon photographed at the Festival of Britain site on the South Bank.
August 1951 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
Circular brass commemorative plaque for the Skylon embedded in grey pebbled ground.
A circular plaque in Jubilee Gardens remembers the Skylon from the 1951 Festival of Britain.
October 2025 © · CC0

Identification

TitleSkylon
Typefuturistic steel tensegrity sculpture and festival structure

Historical context

Associated eventFestival of Britain
Roleconstant vertical-line symbol of the Festival of Britain
Public receptionpopular with the public
Historical referenceThe name and form most likely referenced the Trylon feature of the 1939 New York World's Fair

Creator

DesignersHidalgo Moya, Philip Powell, and Felix Samuely
Structural engineerFelix Samuely
FabricatorPainter Brothers of Hereford, England

Discovery and provenance

Name originMoya said it combined suggestions of Pylon, Sky, and Nylon; he described Nylon as a fascinating new material in 1951 and considered the resulting name wonderfully descriptive
Name suggested byA. G. S. Fidler, wife of the chief architect of the Crawley Development Corporation

Physical characteristics

Shapeslender, cigar-shaped, pointed at both ends
Structuresteel frame with latticework
Support systemsuspended by cables between three steel pylons or beams
Dimensionsapproximately 300 feet high, with the base nearly 15 metres (50 feet) above the ground

Materials

Materialsteel
Claddingaluminium louvres or slats

Technique

Construction methodpartially built on the ground, then raised vertically and completed in situ

Appearance

Visual effectgave the illusion of floating above the ground
Stylefuturistic-looking

Location and ownership

Original locationSouth Bank, London, by the River Thames between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge
Original siteFestival of Britain site, including the South Bank and the former Discovery Dome area
Current statusremoved in 1952

History and restoration

IncidentIn May 1951, Philip Gurdon, a Birkbeck College student, climbed the Skylon at midnight and attached a University of London Air Squadron scarf near the top; police constable Frederick Hicks later retrieved it
Paper-knife inscription"600"; "Made from the aluminium alloy roof sheets which covered the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain, South Bank. The Dome, Skylon and 10 other buildings on the site were dismantled by George Cohen and Sons and Company Ltd during six months of 1952."
Commemorative reusesome metal fragments were made into paper knives and other commemorative artefacts
Preserved partsthe base is kept at the Museum of London; the wind scoops are in a private collection
Possible fate after removalvariously said to have been thrown into the River Lea or the Thames, buried under Jubilee Gardens, turned into souvenirs, or sold as scrap
Dismantling durationsix months in 1952
Dismantling and salesold to George Cohen and Sons, scrap dealers of Wood Lane, Hammersmith, and dismantled at their works in Bidder Street, Canning Town, on the banks of the River Lea
Churchill's viewhe saw the Festival and its architectural structures as a symbol of the previous Labour government's vision of a new socialist Britain
Removal reasonre-erection elsewhere was judged too expensive in post-war austerity
Removaldismantled in 1952 when the rest of the Festival of Britain exhibition was removed, on Winston Churchill's orders
Built1951

Significance

Significancean abiding symbol of the Festival of Britain

Other

Samuely's role at the timelecturer at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in Bedford Square, Bloomsbury
Public concernquestions were raised in Parliament about the danger to visitors from lightning
Lightning precautionit was roped off at one point in anticipation of a forecast thunderstorm
InvestigationBBC Radio 4 Front Row investigation broadcast on 8 March 2011 found that the Skylon and the roof of the Dome of Discovery had been sold to George Cohen, Sons and Company scrap metal dealers of Wood Lane, Hammersmith