The red phone box , a public telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar.
Although their numbers have decreased in recent years, traditional British red phone kiosks can still be seen in many places throughout Britain, and in current or former British colonies around the world. The red color was chosen to make it easy to recognize.
From 1926 onwards, the fascia of the kiosks were adorned with prominent crowns, representing the British government. The red phone box is often seen as an icon of British culture around the world. In 2006, the K2 phone box was selected as one of the top 10 UK design icons, including Mini, Supermarine Spitfire, London tube map, World Wide Web, Concorde, and AEC Routemaster bus. Although traditional box production ended with the appearance of the KX series in 1985, many still stand in the UK.
The most widely used paint colors today are known as "red currants" and are defined by the British Standard, BS381C-Red539. The slightly lighter red was introduced to the K8 model in 1968, but was later used throughout the plantation on the previous model as well. Therefore, for complete historical accuracy, every kiosk in the pre-1968 arrangement must be completely painted in the previous color, and slightly darker, shade BS381C-Red538.
Video Red telephone box
Design history
K1
The first standard telephone kiosk introduced by the United Kingdom Post Office was produced concretely in 1920 and was named K1 (Kiosk No.1). This design is not from the same family as the familiar red phone box. By 2017, there are six existing K1 squares, all of which have been registered in Class II by Historical England, with two still located on the streets of England. The first is located at Trinity Market in Kingston-upon-Hull, and the other on Bembridge High Street, Isle of Wight.
K2
The red phone box was the result of a competition in 1924 to design a kiosk that would be accepted by London Metropolitan Boroughs which until now rejected the Post Office efforts to erect a K1 kiosk on their streets.
Royal Fine Art Commission plays a role in the choice of standard English kiosks. Due to widespread dissatisfaction with the design of the GPO, the Combined Joint Metropolitan Committee held a competition for the superior in 1923, but the results were disappointing. The Birmingham Civic Society then produced its own design - in reinforced concrete - but was informed by the Telephone Director that the design produced by the Engineer-in-Chief Office was preferred; like the Architects' Journal commented, "no one with knowledge of design can feel anything but anger with a pattern that seems to satisfy the official mind." The Birmingham Civic Society did not give up and, with additional pressure from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Town Planning Institute and the Royal Academy, the Postmaster General was forced to think again; and the result is that RFAC is hosting a limited competition.
The committee invited the entry of three respected architects and, together with the designs of the Post Office and from the Birmingham Civil Society, the Fine Arts Commission assessed the competition and selected the design proposed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. The invitation came at a time when Scott had been the guardian of the Sir John Soane Museum: his design for the competition was in classical style, but topped with a dome that reminded of Soane's self-designed tomb at St Pancras' Old Churchyard and Dulwich Picture Gallery, London.
The original wood prototype of the entry was then put into public service on the under-cover site around London. Scott's design is the only one known to survive and still in his place of origin, in the arch of the left entrance to the Royal Academy.
The Post Office chose to make Scott's winning design in an iron cast (Scott suggested mild steel) and painted it red (Scott had suggested silver, with a "blue green" interior) and, with other minor details changes, it was brought to service as Kiosk No.2 or K2. From 1926 K2 deployed in and around London and K1 continues to be established elsewhere.
K3
K3, introduced in 1929, again by Giles Gilbert Scott, similar to K2 but built from concrete and intended for national use. Cheaper than K2, it's still much more expensive than K1 and so it remains an option for low-income sites. The standard color scheme for K1 and K3 is cream, with a red glass bar. The rare K3 Kiosk can be seen beside the Penguin Beach exhibit at ZSL London Zoo, where it has been protected from the weather by the projecting roof and recently restored to its original color scheme. There is also another one used at Rhynd in Perthshire.
K4
K4 (designed by the Department of Engineering Post Office in 1927) incorporated a post box and a machine to buy stamps on the outside. Only one batch of 50 K4 stalls built. Some contemporary reports say the sound of stamp engines in operation disrupt phone users, and rolls of stamps on machines become damp and stick together in wet weather. This has been repeated extensively (including by Stamp) but Johannessen chose not to, for not finding any evidence to support his story. Ten survived with four people in public places in Frodsham, Warrington, Whitley Bay and near Tunstall, East Riding of Yorkshire.
K5
K5 is a metal-faced plywood construction which was introduced in 1934 and designed to be assembled and disassembled and used at exhibitions. It is not known how many were produced, and there is little evidence they ever reached more than the prototype stage. A very detailed replica (built using original drawings) can be viewed at The Avoncroft Museum (Bromsgrove, Worcestershire), as part of the National Phone Kiosk Collection.
K6
In 1935 K6 (kiosk number six) was designed to commemorate the silver jubile of King George V. Consequently sometimes known as the "Jubilee" kiosk. It started production in 1936. K6 is the first red telephone kiosk widely used outside of London, and thousands of others are deployed in almost every city and city, replacing most of the existing kiosks and building thousands of new sites. In 1935 there were 19,000 pay phones in the UK: in 1940, thanks to K6, there were 35,000.
The design was again by Scott, and was essentially a smaller and sleeker K2 version, meant to be manufactured at a much cheaper cost, and to occupy less pavement space. The main differences between the two designs are:
- Size. K6 is 8 feet 3 inches (2.51 m) tall and weighs 13.5 cwt (0.69 ton). This compares to 9 feet 3 inches (2.82 m) and 1.25 tonnes (1.27 tonnes) for K2.
- The design elements are simplified and simplified, in keeping with the "modern" aesthetic of the 1930s. Grecian beads are removed from door and window surrounds, and previously separate pedagogues and decorations are combined.
- The Crown Motif (see below), which had previously penetrated iron to provide ventilation, is now embossed with relief. A separate new ventilation slot is provided.
- New glass patterns are introduced. The doors and two glossy sides of K2 each have 18 equal-sized glass panels arranged in 6 rows 3. In K6 the number of rows increases to 8, and the center column of the panel is made much wider than both sides. It improves visibility, and gives a more horizontal look to the window, again in accordance with the "modern" principle.
K6 has since become an English icon, but was initially unloved universally. The red color causes certain local difficulties and there are many requests for colors that are less visible. The Post Office was forced to let a less grayish gray with a red glass bar scheme for areas of natural beauty and architecture. Ironically, some of the areas that have preserved their phone boxes are now painted red.
Installation of kiosks: early years
With continued demand for K6 kiosks, their footprint is wider than ever. Custom kiosk kiosks are designed from 1953 to reduce the operating costs of cranes.
Installed number
K6 is the most productive kiosk in the UK and its growth, from 1935, can be seen from the BT archive:
Fabrication
K1 and K3 kiosks are then produced in various (and largely undocumented) locations across the country. This makes quality control and manufacturing process control difficult, compared to GPO experience with iron boxing, and an important aspect of the GPO movement against iron phone kiosks. Over the years, five smelting have been involved in this work for the Post Office. Lion Foundry in Kirkintilloch, MacFarlane (Saracen Foundry), and Carron Ironworks near Falkirk all produce batches of K2, K6 and K8; and, in addition, Carron produces a stack of K4 kiosks. Two other manufacturers are McDowall Steven and Bratt Colbran, both of which produce only a relatively small batch of pre-War Mk1 K6.
Although many kiosks have been installed with replacement backs in recent years, unmodified samples generally have their marked producer identities on the outside plates at the bottom of their rear panel. The only exceptions are some of the Mk1 models made by Bratt Colbran, who are anonymous. An additional way to identify the manufacturer is through the casting marks on different parts of the component - ie LF, CC, MF, MS and BC - which are used for many levels over the years. More consistent manufacturer alerts can be found at shoulder height inside the rear panel. These signs generally identify the right kiosk manufacturer and model. Until about 1949, the year of manufacture also included. Newer-built non-BT k6 kiosks (generally painted black) are for most new castings, sourced from new manufacturers.
Crown
From 1926 onwards, the Post Office kiosk fascia was emblazoned with a prominent crown, representing the British government (whose Post Office is an agency). Its initial design was the "Tudor Crown", then used extensively in government services. The same crown is used in all parts of the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom. At K2, the design penetrates iron, and acts as a ventilation hole. In K6, a separate ventilation slot is provided, and the crown is made with relief.
In 1953, the new Queen, Elizabeth II, decided to replace the Tudor crown in all contexts with the actual crown representation commonly used for the coronation of England, the Crown St. Edward. This new symbol starts to appear in the K6 stall fascia.
St Edward's Crown was originally used in kiosks throughout England. However, from 1955, in Scotland, the Post Office chose to use the true representation of the Kingdom of Scotland, in line with broader policy for government agencies in Scotland. To accommodate two different crown designs at the K6 kiosk, the fascia section is further poured with a slot in it, in which a plate containing the appropriate crown is inserted before the roof is installed.
The crown is originally painted red the same as the rest of the box. However, since the early 1990s, when the value of red kiosk heritages began to be widely recognized, British Telecom has chosen the crown (on K2 and K6) with gold paint.
Kiosks installed in Kingston on Hull are not equipped with crowns, because the stalls are installed by Hull Corporation (later Hull City Council, then Kingston Communications). All the boxes in Hull are also painted with cream.
Modernization - K7 & amp; K8
In 1959 architect Neville Conder was assigned to design a new box. The K7 design is nothing more than a prototype stage. K8 was introduced in 1968 designed by Bruce Martin. It is used primarily for new sites; about 11,000 are installed, replacing the previous model only when they need to relocate or have been damaged repaired. K8 maintains a red color scheme, but a different red color: "Poppy Red" is a bit brighter, which then becomes the standard color in all kiosks.
The K8 features a single large glass panel on both sides and doors. While increasing visibility and lighting in the box, it is prone to damage. There are two versions - Mk1 and Mk2 - with the most noticeable differences in rooftop and surround opal 'TELEPHONE' details.
With regards to the creation of new boxes with easier access, lower maintenance and brighter lighting, the Post Office introduced the run prototype of the "Croydon" phone box from 1972, named after they were founded in Croydon. The Croydon boxes, which feature a black handset silhouette with bright yellow paint, were erected as experimental prototypes to replace the red phone box. However, while the trials were successful, the quality of materials and design made it too expensive for the Post Office to be mass-produced and the designs were not adopted.
Whether in the late 1970s or late 1980s, smaller new hooded booths were introduced as Booth 7A. These yellow chambers were introduced to areas where the red phone boxes had previously been damaged or even pulled out of the ground. They became known as the "Oakham" box - a reference to the similarities in form with tin Oak Ham.
Privatization and KX series
In 1980, in preparation for privatization, the Post Office Phone was renamed to British Telecom (BT). In February 1981, it was announced that all red phone boxes would be colored yellow, which is a new corporate BT color. There was immediate public protest; The Daily Mail launched a campaign "against the yellow hazard" and questions were raised in Parliament. In House of Lords, Earl of Gowrie, State Minister for Employment, asked BT "to abandon this silly scheme". In the House of Commons, Mark Lennox-Boyd asked the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, if he would treat the decision "with the greatest possible disappointment". Mrs. Thatcher, in charge of privatization, will only say that she can "see the point of my dear friend". Shortly after, BT announced that only 90 of the 77,000 traditional boxes remaining had been painted in different colors "as experiments" and that no final decision had been reached.
After privatization in 1982, British Telecom introduced the KX100, a more useful design, which began replacing most of the existing boxes. The KX100 is one of a series of designs, including the accessible left-handed KX200, and the triangular KX300. In January 1985, Nick Kane, Marketing Director for BT Local Communications Services announced that the old red telephone box would be replaced because they "... no longer meet the needs of our customers." Few people like to use them, they are expensive and difficult to clean treated and can not be used by disabled people ". This time, BT did not budge, despite another vigorous campaign. Many local authorities use laws designed to protect important architectural or historical buildings to keep old telephone boxes at prominent locations and about 2,000 of them are given registered status. Several thousand others are left behind in most low-income rural sites, but thousands of recovered K2 and K6 boxes are sold. Some kiosks have been converted to use as showers in private homes. In Kingston upon Thames a number of old K6 squares have been used to form works of art that resemble fallen dominoes. It is estimated that 11,000 traditional red phone boxes remain in the public service. The KX, better known as the KX100 PLUS, was introduced in 1996 featuring a dome roof that reminds us of familiar K2 and K6. The next design has been much different from the old red box. BT followed the KX series with Multi.phone in 1999 and ST6 in 2007.
Maps Red telephone box
Adoption
Redundant red phone boxes may be adopted by parish councils in the UK for other uses. Some examples are shown below. Kiosks may be used for any legal purpose other than telephone and sales contracts including clause 5.5.4 below:
The buyer shall promise not to sell, rent or license the Goods to competitors to the Seller or to not allow competitors to install electronic communications devices (as defined in Schedule 2 of the Telecommunications Act 1984) in the Goods or himself (as Buyer) install, supply or operate any form of electronic communications equipment (as defined in Schedule 2 of the Telecommunications Act 1984) in the Goods.
It's not clear why BT wants to ban kiosks reused for electronic communications and why the regulator, Ofcom, allows it. In the US, there is an active movement that seeks the use of new telecommunications for rarely used phone booths, e.g. as a wi-fi hotspot.
Library
During 2009, K6 in Westbury-sub-Mendip village in Somerset was converted into a library or book exchange replacing mobile library services that no longer visited the village. Similar libraries now exist in North Cadbury villages in Somerset, Great Budworth in Cheshire, Little Shelford and Upwood in Cambridgeshire, and about 150 other locations. One such box was donated by the Cumbernauld city twin association and installed as a library in Bron, France.
Art gallery
Also in 2009, the town of Settle in North Yorkshire established the Gallery in Green in K6, which has been adopted by the Parish Council. The Gallery has featured exhibitions (see the online gallery on the website) of famous artists and photographers (Tessa Bunney, Martin Parr, Mariana Cook) and local community groups. The most famous contributor is Brian May, with a stereoscopic 'A Village Lost and Found' stereogram.
Defibrillator
After the competition by Girl Guide units in 2011 to find use for their unused local phone box at Glendaruel, Argyll, has been equipped with a defibrillator. Equipment is only accessible by following the instructions of the Scottish Ambulance Service during an emergency call. The box conversion is paid by BT under the Adopt A Kiosk scheme and the defibrillator is supplied by Community Heartbeat Trust. A similar installation has been conducted in Loweswater, Cumbria, and Witney, Oxfordshire.
More
In 2010, in the village of Brookwood, Surrey, a project started to restore and maintain the only remaining K6 kiosks in the village. Kiosk was adopted by the Woking Borough Council in 2009 and a group of citizens began to restore kiosks. This is achieved through personal donations and sponsorship of local businesses. A blog detailing the restoration.
In 2012, remanufacturing units are offered for sale by X2Connect.
From October 2014, several K6 phone boxes that have been used in London have been painted green and converted into free mobile phone chargers called Solarboxes. They have been considered an alternative outdoor kiosk for indoor room fillers like Chargebox.
Usage elsewhere
Some of these different phone boxes have been installed on the campus of Norman, Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma, where they continue to serve their original function. Elsewhere in the United States, some have also been installed in downtown Glenview, Illinois. There is also one outside the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. A red telephone box can also be found at Courthouse Square in Oxford, Mississippi. There are two used in Tennessee. One is located on the square in Collierville, Tennessee, and the other is next to Pepper Palace in The Village Shops shopping center in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. In Massachusetts, there is also a red telephone box at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology student center. In addition, there is a red telephone box outside the city hall (town hall/police station/post office) in the small mountain town of Rowe, Massachusetts, which is the original installation that originated from when Rowe town first got a phone call. Two red phone boxes are on display at the World Showcase area of ​​Disney's Epcot in Orlando, Florida, located in Great Britain and one in Canada. One of them is on display at English Gardens a Place for Weddings in Winter Park close to the original downtown Orlando.K6 can also be found outside the Allied Building in Treasure Island, Florida. There are also some red boxes at the Ellenton Outlet Mall, just off I-75, near Bradenton, Florida. It still has their original STD card codes in place and has worked US public phone equipment. There is a red phone box in Westminster Maryland on the corner of West Main Street and Rt. 27 outside Johanson Restaurant.
In Lake Havasu City, Arizona, some K6 arrived when the old London Bridge was preserved there. Because they are in the US, and not under British boundaries, they are fully functional, but with updated electronics to make them obey the code.
The UK K6 phone box can be found, painted green, in the center of Kinsale, a historic old town in County Cork in the Republic of Ireland.
Red phone boxes are also found in Malta, Gozo, parts of the Caribbean such as Antigua, Barbados, as well as in Cyprus, suggesting that colonial influence still exists. Some of these telephone booths are used as internet kiosks. A box can also be found in downtown Chinon, France and another in the German city of Bad MÃÆ'¼nstereifel.
Australia and New Zealand each have their own red phone box design, and some examples have been stored on sensitive or historic sites. A short and colorful campaign runs to "save" the red phone box in New Zealand by the Wizard of New Zealand.
In 2008, ten K6 phone boxes were imported from England into the city of Petah Tikva in Israel and installed on the main road, Haim Ozer.
Kingston on Hull
Kingston on Hull is the only area in the UK that is not under the Post Office monopoly, with the phone under the control of the Corporation of Hull (city council). In Hull and the surrounding area, this means the phone boxes are painted cream and the crown is removed. The Hull phone system was then privatized and is now operated by Kingston Communications. Kingston Communications (KC) has removed many of the famous K6 cream boxes around 2007. Angry people complain that they are losing part of their heritage. KC has held around 125 K6 in use today. KC allocates a limited amount (about 1,000) for sale to the general public, and many are sold before they are even removed from the service.
Crown Dependencies
The phone service from Crown Dependencies is divided at various times from the GPO.
Guernsey
Guernsey Telecoms painted his yellow stall with white window frames; they were painted in blue when the company was sold to Cable and Wireless in 2002.
Jersey
Jersey Telecom uses locally made kiosks, painted with cream and yellow.
Isle of Man
Manx Telecom has left its kiosk in red used by its predecessor, British Telecom and GPO. The green phone box is in Cregneash, as is practiced in many rural areas of England.
Overseas region
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
There's at least one in Dhekelia.
Gibraltar
Gibtelecom operates a Red Kiosk of various vintages.
Portugal
Outside of the former British Empire, red phone boxes can be seen in Portugal - for example, they are a common sight in the city of Porto.
Use in contemporary art
Not Sequential
Scottish sculptor David Mach created the permanent permanent work of Out of Order in 1989 in Kingston upon Thames, London. The shape is a row of twelve K6 phone boxes, the first upright, the other gradually falling like a domino. Originally intended that the first upright box contains a working phone.
BT Artbox
In 2012, BT helped celebrate the 25th anniversary of the free ChildLine phone charity by commissioning eighty artists to design and decorate a full-size K6 replica. It is displayed in public spaces in London and later auctioned by Sotheby's as BT Artboxes. Artists include Peter Blake, Willie Christie, David Mach, Denis Masi, Zaha Hadid and Ian Ritchie.
Pop culture
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments