Commendation, the Colvin Prize 2023 (Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain) Reconstruction explores the impact of the First World War on the built environment – examining the immediate and longer term aftermath of the Great War on the architecture of Britain and the British Empire during the interwar years. While much attention has been paid by historians to post-war architectural reconstruction after 1945, the earlier developments of the interwar period (1919-1939) have been comparatively overlooked. Filling an important gap in surveys of 20th-century British architecture, this volume reveals how the architectural developments of this period not only provided important foundations for what happened after 1945 – they are also of real significance in their own right. Sixteen essays bring together new and diverse approaches to the period – a period of reconstruction, fraught with the challenges of modernity and democratisation. The collection considers the complex effects of reconstruction on design, discourse, practice, and professionalism, and makes important postcolonial interventions into the architectural history of British Imperialism at home and in its far reaches; in Cairo, South Africa, Australia, and India.

Table of Contents:
List of figures List of contributors Foreword: Towards Narratives of Modernity After Reconstruction – Elizabeth Darling Acknowledgements Introduction - Neal Shasore and Jessica Kelly Section I: Promoting the Business of Architecture Introduction - Neal Shasore and Jessica Kelly I: Criticism: The Architectural Press and the Public - Jessica Kelly II: Professionalism: The American Influence on British Architectural Practice - H Horatio Joyce III: Regulation: The New London - Eileen Chanin IV: Development: Speculative Office Development and Public Sector Tenants - Jonathan Clarke Section II: Designing Community Infrastructure Introduction - Neal Shasore and Jessica Kelly V: Community Centre: New Housing Estates in Scotland - Alistair Fair VI: Public House: The Carlisle Experiment and the Improved Public House - Julian Holder VII: Parish: Democratic Participation in Suburban Parish Churches - Clare Price Section III: Building a Rural Citizenry Introduction - Neal Shasore and Jessica Kelly VIII: Yeoman: Land Settlement and Cottage Small Holdings - Rebecca Preston and Joanna Smith IX: Veteran: Annabel Dott and Colonial, Metropolitan and Rural Communities - Elizabeth McKellar X: Student: Henry Morris and the First Village Colleges - Kieran Mahon Section IV: Binding Subjects through Statecraft Introduction - Neal Shasore XI: Citizenship: Welfare and the Democratic State in Percy Thomas’s Civic Architecture - Robert Proctor XII: Memory: Sir Herbert Baker, Rhodes House and the Architecture of Memory - Geoffrey Tyack XIII: Diocese: Cairo Cathedral and the Politics of Liberal Anglican Church Design - David Lewis Section V: Wedding Peace with Well-Being XIV: Sickness: Advances in British Hospital Design after the First World War - Harriet Richardson Blakeman XV: Health: Democracy, Diversity, Dispersal - Barry Doyle Index