Elain Harwood Explained

Elain Harwood Hon.FRIBA (10 June 1958 – April 2023) was a British architectural historian with Historic England^[1] and a specialist in post–Second World War English architecture.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Early life and education

Harwood was born on 10 June 1958 in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. She was the daughter of Harold Harwood and Maureen (née Chadwick) and elder sister to her brother David. She attended Bramcote Hills Grammar School before reading history at Bristol University.^[5] She studied building conservation at the Architectural Association between 1984 and 1986.^[6] She completed a PhD on the building of London's South Bank at Bristol University in 2010.^[7]

Career

Of the influence modernist architecture in the East Midlands had on her as a child, she said that "every escape from the normal and humdrum was in buildings from the Fifties and Sixties – the theatre, the swimming baths, the library".^{[8] [6]}

Bristol's derelict terraces and docklands were what first drew her to the city, but it was also the home of the architect Berthold Lubetkin, and an exhibition of his work together with the Thirties exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in 1979 kindled Harwood's interest in modernism^[9] and the modern buildings of her childhood – schools and the Nottingham Playhouse.

Harwood was an active member of the Cinema Theatre Association, the Thirties Society (later The Twentieth Century Society), The Victorian Society and the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain.^[7]

Historic England

Harwood took a temporary job in January 1984 at what was to become English Heritage (later Historic England), and remained there for the rest of her career.^[8] In 1987 she joined what had been the Greater London Council Historic Buildings Division, by then absorbed into English Heritage, just as research was needed on post-war buildings. Between 1996 and 2004 she was responsible for most of the organisation's recommendations for listing buildings from the period after 1945,^[10] as well as for research programmes on earlier cinemas and flats. In 1995 she was responsible for researching the suitability of Jimi Hendrix receiving a blue plaque on Brook Street, Mayfair, about which was said "I think it's the most exciting one we've had for a long time. We've never had a rock musician before."^[11] She held the position of senior architectural investigator.^[12]

Twentieth Century Society

Harwood was for many years a nominated Trustee of The Twentieth Century Society and organised many lectures and study visits for the society's members. She helped civic societies, local action groups and individuals across the UK in campaigning to save twentieth-century buildings from inappropriate change and total demolition, and lectured to both lay and academic audiences. She was Joint Series Editor of a series of monographs on Twentieth Century Architects, published by English Heritage and continued by Liverpool University Press.^[13] In 2015 she cycled from Paris to Geneva to raise funds for the society's journals.^[14]

Teaching, presenting and lecturing

She was a "major contributor" to Cambridge University's MSt in Building History, developing and teaching Twentieth Century and Post-War programmes.^[15] She lectured across the UK and internationally.^{[16] [17]}

She was a presenter on BBC Two's One Foot in the Past series in the 1990s.^{[18] [19]} She led walking, cycling and coach tours around interesting architectural locations.^[20]

Awards and honours

2016 – Space, Hope and Brutalism, a project that Harwood developed over 18 years,^[8] won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion from the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain.^[21]

2022 – Awarded an Honorary Fellowship of RIBA^[22]

Selected publications

1990s

• Book: Exploring England's Heritage: London. 1991. Her Majesty's Stationery Office in association with English Heritage. London. 0113000324. registration. (with Andrew Saint)
• Lubetkin and progressive socialism in the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury (with Andrew Saint and David Gander), Twentieth Century Society, 1993^[23]
• Tayler and Green, Architects 1938–1973: The Spirit of Place in Modern Housing. The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture, London 1998. (with Alan Powers)

2000s

• Festival of Britain (with Alan Powers) Twentieth Century Architecture, 2001
• England: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings Historic England, B. T. Batsford, 2003.^[24]
• The Heroic Period of Conservation (with Alan Powers). Twentieth Century Architecture, 2006
• The Sixties: Life, Style, Architecture (with Alan Powers) 2006
• Housing the Twentieth Century Nation (with Alan Powers). 2008
• Nottingham: City Guide. Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides, 2008^[25]

2010s

• England's Schools: History, Architecture and Adaptation. 2010. (Informed Conservation)
• Chamberlin, Powell and Bon (in the 20th Century Architects series). RIBA Enterprises, London 2011.^[26]
• London Buildings: An Architectural Tour by Hannah Dipper (contributor) Batsford, 2011.
• The Seventies: Rediscovering a Lost Decade of British Architecture The Twentieth Century Society, 2012.
• Twentieth Century Architecture: Oxford and Cambridge Volume 11. 2013. (with Alan Powers)
• England's Post-War Listed Buildings. 2015. (with James O. Davies)
• Houses: Regional Practice and Local Character. 2015. (with Alan Powers)
• Space, Hope, and Brutalism: English Architecture, 1945–1975. Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. 2015.^{[27] [28] [29]}
• The English Public Library 1945–85: Introductions to Heritage Assets. 2016.
• 100 Houses: 100 Years (with Susannah Charlton) Batsford, 2017.^[30]
• Pomo: Postmodern Buildings in Britain (with Geraint Franklin). Batsford, 2017.^[31]
• Ernő Goldfinger. 2017. (with Alan Powers) (in the 20th Century Architects series)
• Art Deco Britain: Buildings of the Inter-War Years. Pavilion Books, London, 2019

2020s

• The Heroic Period of Conservation: Vol 7. Paul Holberton Publishing, 2020
• Mid-Century Britain: Modern Architecture 1938–1963. Pavilion Books, 2021^[1]
• Stevenage: Pioneering New Town Centre (with Emily Cole). Historic England in association with Liverpool University Press, 2021
• Ernő Goldfinger (with Alan Powers). Liverpool University Press in association with the Twentieth Century Society, 2024

Other writing

• Harwood wrote architecture-specific obituaries for The Guardian for over 20 years.^{[32] [33]}
• Between 2009 and 2021 she was a contributor to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, publishing the biographies of Patricia Randall Tindale^[34] and Sir Hubert Bennett^[35] among others.
• She was co-editor of the Twentieth Century Society Journal.^[36]
• She was a contributor to The RIBA Journal^{[37] [38]}
• She was a contributor to Excavate! The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall ed. Tessa Norton and Bob Stanley. Faber, 2021^[39]

Death and tributes

Harwood was found dead on 19 April 2023. Her cause of death was found to be streptococcal meningitis.

Ben Derbyshire, the former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, described her death as a "huge loss to Historic England, heritage in general, C20th architecture in particular and anyone who knew and enjoyed her amazing spirit". The architectural critic Hugh Pearman called her "the great and ever enthusiastic chronicler of British post-war architecture."^[40]

The director of Save Britain's Heritage, Henrietta Billings, said that "the rising levels of public interest in Brutalism and other previously unloved periods of modern architecture are largely down to her".^[41] The chief executive of Historic England, Duncan Wilson, described her as "outstanding in her field, a fierce advocate for twentieth-century architecture and a true heritage champion".^[42] The director of the Twentieth Century Society, Catherine Croft, praised her "unmatched expertise, enthusiasm and generosity" and went on to describe her legacy as incomparable.^{[43] [44]}

Further reading

• Web site: Alan . Powers . Alan Powers . Elain Harwood (1958-2023), English Heritage's best known public figure . The RIBA Journal . 2 June 2023 . 11 June 2023 .

External links

• Web site: Elain Harwood visits Bevin Court in London . BBC Arts . 26 April 2016 . 11 June 2023 .
• Web site: Susannah . C20 historian Elain Harwood rides the London–Surrey 100 . Twentieth Century Society . 3 August 2015 . 11 June 2023 .

Notes and References

1. News: 2021-10-11 . The Guardian . Rowan Moore . Mid-Century Britain by Elain Harwood; Sandfuture by Justin Beal review – re-evaluating postwar architecture . London, UK .
2. Web site: Elain Harwood. buildingconservation.aaschool.ac.uk. Architectural Association School of Architecture. 12 August 2018.
3. Web site: Elain Harwood 2. buildingconservation.aaschool.ac.uk. Architectural Association School of Architecture. 12 August 2018.
4. Singmaster. Deborah. A life in architecture: Elain Harwood. Architects' Journal. 5 October 2000. 12 August 2018. Metropolis International. London.
5. News: 2000-09-05 . The Guardian . Maev Kennedy . Yellow brick estate could make grade as listed area . London, UK .
6. Web site: Tributes paid to author and post-war architecture champion Elain Harwood . Richard Waite . www.architectsjournal.co.uk . 21 April 2023 . 2023-05-09.
7. News: 2023-05-08 . . Alan . Powers . Alan Powers . Elain Harwood obituary . London, UK.
8. News: 2015-08-12 . Evening Standard . Robert Bevan . Concrete poetry . London.
9. Web site: Spirit of Inquiry . . www.ribaj.com . 6 October 2015 . 2023-05-09.
10. News: 2015-11-13 . The Guardian . Bob Stanley . Space, Hope and Brutalism: English Architecture 1945–1975 by Elain Harwood – a concrete cause celebre . London, UK .
11. News: 1995-04-21 . The Independent . Mark Brown . Historic England relists nine sites to mark 70th anniversary of Festival of Britain . 46 . London, UK .
12. News: 2021-08-05 . The Guardian . Mark Brown . Historic England relists nine sites to mark 70th anniversary of Festival of Britain . London, UK .
13. https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/topic/book-series/twentieth-century-architects?target=titleSearch
14. Web site: Elain Harwood completes Paris–Geneva Cycle Challenge. Susannah . c20society.org.uk . 2023-05-09.
15. Web site: Elain Harwood 1958–2023. M. L. R. Grove . www.hoart.cam.ac.uk . 27 April 2023 . 2023-05-09.
16. Web site: "Progressive Once More": Rejuvenating Mid-Century Modern Architecture in Southeast Asia. . www.architecture.com . 2023-05-09.
17. News: 1996-07-18 . Chester Chronicle . . News . 19 . Chester, UK .
18. News: 1996-07-18 . Cambridge Daily News . . BBC2 . 21 . Cambridge, UK .
19. News: 1996-07-04 . South Wales Echo . . BBC2 . 30 . Swansea, UK .
20. News: 1996-06-04 . The Independent . . Annexe . 39 . Swansea, UK .
21. Web site: Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion – SAHGB . 25 November 2019 . 1 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190801192105/https://www.sahgb.org.uk/alice-davis-hitchcock-medallion.html . dead .
22. Web site: RIBA announces 2022 Honorary Fellows . . www.architecture.com . 2023-05-09.
23. Web site: Research guide: Lubetkin and Tecton . . www.architecture.com . 2023-05-09.
24. News: 2003-05-26 . The Guardian . Jonathan Glancey . The untouchables . London, UK .
25. Web site: Nottingham by Elain Harwood. Yale Books UK.
26. News: 2011-12-09 . Evening Standard . David Sexton . The Barbican Estate is seen as a Brutalist masterpiece . London, UK .
27. Web site: Jonathan Meades – Waddling Towards Modernisation.
28. Web site: Space, Hope & Brutalism: A Conversation with Elain Harwood – Yale University Press London Blog. 5 September 2015.
29. Web site: A crushing case for brutalism – with the people left out – The Spectator. 10 October 2015.
30. News: 2002-10-08 . The Guardian . . Around the houses: a century of dazzling homes – in pictures. London, UK .
31. News: 2017-11-22 . The Guardian . Oliver Wainwright . Cheeky, cartoonish … and under threat: why our postmodern buildings must be saved . London, UK .
32. News: 2023-02-08 . The Guardian . Elain Harwood . Eldred Evans obituary . London, UK .
33. News: 2002-12-20 . The Guardian . Elain Harwood . Dame Elizabeth Chesterton obituary. London, UK .
34. 106039 . Tindale, Patricia Randall . Elain . Harwood . 2015 .
35. 74955 . Bennett, Sir Hubert . Elain . Harwood . 2012 . 2013 .
36. Book: 2017 . Charlton . Susannah . Harwood . Elain . 100 Houses 100 Years . Twentieth Century Society . London, UK . 202 . 9781849944373 .
37. Web site: Curl la Tourelle Head makes 60s library swing again. Elain Harwood . www.ribaj.com . 6 April 2021 . 2023-05-09.
38. Web site: Queen Elizabeth II: A life in buildings. Elain Harwood . www.ribaj.com . 9 September 2022 . 2023-05-09.
39. 2021 . Simon McEwan . Excavate! The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall . Record Collector. insert . Vol. 517 . Diamond Publishing . 128.
40. Web site: Flatman . 2023-04-21 . Ben . Elain Harwood dies aged 64 . 2023-04-24 . . en.
41. Web site: Waite . Richard . 2023-04-21 . Tributes paid to author and post-war architecture champion Elain Harwood . 2023-04-24 . . en.
42. Web site: Elain Harwood Historic England . 2023-04-24 . historicengland.org.uk . 21 April 2023 . en.
43. Web site: C20 Society tweet . 2023-04-24 . Twitter . en.
44. Web site: C20 Society tweet . 2023-04-24 . Twitter . en.