Raymond Unwin [also known as Sir Raymond Unwin] was born in Whitston, near Rotherham, England on 2 November 1863. He declined a scholarship offered by Magdalen College, Oxford in favour of an engineering apprenticeship with the Staveley Coal & Iron Co. Engineers' Department in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
In 1896 Unwin embarked on an architectural career and that year formed Parker & Unwin, a partnership with Barry Parker (1867-1947) in Buxton, Derbyshire. The business relocated to Hampstead Garden Suburb in 1907 and by 1913 had moved to Letchworth in Hertfordshire. By 1914 Unwin had become increasingly involved in town planning projects and public sector work and in May 1915 the partnership was formally dissolved.
During its nearly twenty years history, Parker & Unwin made a significant contribution to the development of the garden city and suburb movement in Britain, notably in their planning of New Earswck Village near York for Joseph Rowntree, and the planning and housing they designed for the First Garden City at Letchworth, and at Hampstead Garden Suburb. Their book The Art of Building a Home (1901) was also widely-read and influential, as was Unwin's book Town Planning in Practice: An Introduction to the Art of Designing Cities & Suburbs (1909) which ran through several editions.
Following the dissolution of the Parker & Unwin partnership, Unwin worked for the Ministry of Munitions for whom he designed and supervised the construction of villages for war workers in Gretna, Eastriggs and elsewhere. In 1919 he was appointed
Chief Architect for the Ministry of Health and later Chief Technical Officer for Housing and Town Planning, a post he held until 1928. In 1929 he served as technical adviser to the Greater London Regional Planning Committee. In 1936 Columbia University in New York appointed him visiting Professor of Town Planning.
Unwin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architecture (FRIBA) in 1910, and was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (PRIBA) from 1931 to 1933. He was also President of the Town Planning Institute (PTPI) in 1915, and President of the International Federation for Housing and Town Planning (IFHTP) from 1928 to 1931.
Among the numerous awards and honours conferred on him were a knighthood in 1932, the Royal Gold Medal in 1937, and an honorary doctorate from Harvard University in 1937 Unwin fell ill and died in Old Lyme, Connecticut, on 28 June 1940.
By Unwin and with Barry Parker: St. Andrew's Church, Barrow Hill, near Staveley, Derbyshire (1895); Woodcote, Church Stretton, Shropshire, with Parker (1895); Town plan of New Earnswick, near York and hosing there (1902-04); Town plan of Letchworth Garden City, Herfordshire, and housing there (1903); Kildare Lodge, Minehead, Somerset, with Parker (1903); Co-operative housing, St. Botolph's Avenue, Sevenoaks, Kent (1903-06); Folk Hall Institute, New Earswick, near York (1905-07); Town plan of Hampstead Garden Suburb, London and, Shops and housing at Temple Fortune, Heath Close, Reynolds Close, and The Orchard (c1906-c.1910); Oakdene, Rotherfield, Sussex (1907); Primary School, East Earswick, near York (1911-12); and The Clock House, Cowfold, Sussex, with Parker (1913-14).
See also:
Source of Illustrations
RIBApix - Raymond Unwin
RIBApix - Parker & Unwin
Button, Roger. Arts and Crafts Churches of Great Britain: Architects, Craftsmen and Patrons.. Settle, North Yorkshire: 2QT Ltd. (Publishing) Ltd., 2020
Creese, Walter. ‘Parker and Unwin: architects of totality’. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians vol. 22, no. 3, 1963 pp. 161-170
Davidson, David Andrew. One hundred years in the making: the creation and protection of Raymond Unwin's legacy at Hampstead Garden Suburb'. Planning Perspectives, Vol.30, no.1, 2015, pp.141-152
Day, M. G. Sir Raymond Unwin (1863-1940) and R. Barry Parker (1867-1947) : study and evaluation of their contribution to the development of site-planning theory and practice. M.A. thesis, University of Manchester, 1973
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Feiss, Carl, et al. 'Memories of Raymond Unwin'. Town and Country Planning vol. 31, no. 11, 1963 p. 422
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
Hawkes, Dean and Taylor, Nicholas. Barry Parker & Raymond Unwin Architects. London: Architectural Association, 1980 [Exhibition catalogue]
Jackson, Frank. Sir Raymond Unwin: architect, planner and visionary. London: Zwemmer, 1985
The Legacy of Raymond Unwin. A Human Pattern for Planning. Edited by Walter Cresse. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press, 1967
Lyon, T. Findlay. ‘Sir Raymond Unwin 1863-1940’. RIBA Journal September 1963 pp. 355-357
Miller, Mervyn. 'The elusive green background: Raymond Unwin and the greater London regional plan'. Planning Perspective vol. 4, no. 1, 1989 pp. 15-44
Miller, Mervyn. Raymond Unwin: Garden Cities and Town Planning. Leicester: Leicester University bPress, 1992
O'Brien. Michael. 'John Nolan and Raymond Unwin: Garden City collaborators'. Athens Journal of Architecture vol. 1, no. 1, 2015 pp. 9-24
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 159, 5 July 1940 p. 4
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 47, 15 July 1940 pp. 206, 208
Miller, Mervyn. ‘Commemorating and celebrating Raymond Unwin (1863–1940)’. Planning Perspectives vol. 30, 2014, issue 1, 2015 pp. 129-140
Miller, Mervyn. ‘Raymond Unwin’ in Pioneers in British Planning. Edited by Gordon Cherry. London: Architectural Press, 1981 pp. 72-102
Miller, Mervyn. Raymond Unwin: Garden Cities & Town Planning. Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1992
Pepler, G. L. 'Obituary: Sir Raymond Unwin'. The architects' Journal vol. 92, no. 2372, 1940, p. 6
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 pp. 64-65
Unwin, Raymond and Baillie Scott, M.H. "Home Counties", et al. Garden suburbs : town planning and modern architecture. London : T. Fisher Unwin, 1910
Unwin, Raymond. Hampstead Garden Suburb. Letchworth, Herts. : Garden City Press, 1937
Unwin, Raymond. Town planning in practice : an introduction to the art of designing cities and suburbs. London : Ernest Benn, 2nd edition, 1911