THE INTERIORS

The summer of 1969 saw QE2s first season. This was the summer of Apollo 11. That same year a prototype for Concord was revealed at an air show in England. In an era new to color television, ATMs and instant or frozen ready to eat meals, QE2 could not help but be the ocean liner for the Space Age. Her profile, notable for the sculptural mast and funnel hinted at what was the style of her rooms. The use of new materials was joined with a design that was modern, high tech and functional in its appearance. By the late 1960s, the concept of the future was decidedly minamalist. This vision was presented in films like 2001:A Space Odyssey which linked the promiss of the future with the style trends of the time.

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Ground Control to Major Tom. The dramatic and surreal Midships Lobby was the first thing passengers would encounter when boarding the Queen Elizabeth 2 . This room was like nothing ever seen on a ship before and some considered it too dramatic. The effect must have made a staggering first impression. A large circular room. Green leather seating topped with a chrome railing was placed around a lower level. The ceiling had concentric circles and in the very center, a trumpet shaped column. Passengers would see this motif again later in the Queens Room.

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During the day the with the curtains opened the Queens Room glowed with bright natural light. The slotted white ceiling was able to produce some nice effect lighting at night, but in the day light it helped blur the lines of the rooms real space. The white trumpet shaped columns, illuminated with effect lighting in the floor, echoed in the bases of tables and shell chairs confuse the eye, and seem to make the whole room deify gravity.

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