Mid-Century Britain: modern architecture 1938-1963

Mid-Century Britain: modern architecture 1938-1963, Elain Harwood, Batsford, 2021, 288 pages, 145 colour illustrations, hardback.

As historian and listing inspector for Historic England (and formerly English Heritage) over many years, Elain Harwood has been instrumental in raising the appreciation of post-war British architecture, notably in an ever-growing series of books. The term ‘Mid-Century Modern’ that she uses for the period 1938-63, originated in the USA, where it was adopted to describe the flashy North Shore hotels in Miami of the 40s and 50s. When adopted in Britain, she tells us, its meaning was somewhat different, with architects typically pursuing a gentler type of modernism which embraced functionalism but did not exclude the decorative touch. The Festival of Britain, held in the summer of 1951, best captures its stylistic ethos, and within the book Harwood traces its development over the next decade as it became simpler and more refined.

In the introduction she explains the influence that continental architects such as Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer had on British design, identifying the former’s Impington School of 1939 as how British architecture might have evolved but for the second world war. When the war was over, an acute shortage of building materials, not to mention funding, delayed construction and encouraged experimentation such as prefabrication and system building. The gradual revival of the British economy in the 1950s brought greater activity, as well as major public works and advances in technology. Among these were the curtain wall and lightweight concrete shell structures. Midcentury modern, she claims, came to an end with the rise of brutalism.

Following the introduction, most of the book consists of a gazetteer of buildings, each given a full-page illustration and a brief description. It is divided into building categories, beginning appropriately with the Festival of Britain. Other categories include private houses, low-cost housing, education, public buildings, transport and places of worship. Many of the selected buildings are not well-known (among them is this reviewer’s house), and about one third are unlisted. The handsome photographs are almost all taken by the author, and the book is attractively designed. While the format allows limited scope for detailed analysis of the buildings (and no plans), the book skilfully evokes the spirit of the two decades it covers. It is a bargain at £25.