Amyas Connell

Amyas Douglas Connell
Connell (far left) in 1965
Born	23 June 1901 Eltham, New Zealand
Died	19 April 1980 London, England
Nationality	New Zealander
Occupation	Architect
Practice	Connell and Thomson, Connell, Ward and Lucas
Buildings	High and Over, 1929 New Farm, 1932

Amyas Douglas Connell (23 June 1901 – 19 April 1980) was a highly influential New Zealand

High and Over is a country house in

The house is situated on a prominent hillside with views over the old town of Amersham and the Misbourne Valley on land that was originally part of the estate of the Tyrwhitt-Drake Family who lived at the nearby Shardeloes. The house was part of a larger scheme that included a gardener's lodge, water tower and generator house set in a garden that combined Cubist elements with the English landscape tradition. It was later joined by a group of speculative houses in similar style - the "Sun Houses".^[2]

In this early and impressive design, Connell utilises his deep understanding of Roman architecture in a complex reworking of Corbusean modernism, attempting a fusion that would connect the classical and modern worlds. While some British critics interpreted this as muddled formalism, it was a beacon to a younger generation of architects including

In 1962, it was divided into two separate dwellings in a (successful) effort to save it from demolition. In the 1960s a large part of the grounds of the house were sold off to developers and the drive was re-used to make an adopted road, Highover Park, serving approximately 50 1960s detached, semi-detached and town houses. This later, albeit still modernist, development had no connection to Connell. These houses and other in-fill developments around High and Over since the mid 20th Century have affected the house's immediate environment and aspects, and new developments still generate considerable public attention and protest about their impact on High and Over.^[4] Although the house was divided into two apartments in 1962, it was later converted back into a single dwelling. It was then placed on the market for sale at £2.5m (May 2010), and returned to the market at £2.8m in 2014.

Connell, Ward and Lucas (1933–1939)

After cutting ties with Thomson, Connell established a partnership with his brother-in-law

A complete list of Connell, Ward and Lucas projects is somewhat elusive.^[tone] Incomplete lists appear in the references below and new work is still being identified. A previously unknown house designed by Connell in Guildford, Surrey has recently^[when?] been documented by the UK Modern House Fanatics yahoo group.

Connell and the British architectural scene

While an outsider by virtue of his New Zealand background, Connell formed part of a complex network of mainly foreign modernist architects and designers who exerted a strong influence in Britain between the wars. Tall, strong featured and bearded, Connell was an eloquent defender of Modernism. He robustly debated this subject with Sir Reginald Blomfield in For and Against Modern Architecture, a broadcast by BBC radio in 1934 that was also printed in The Listener. His apolitical and pragmatic position on architecture was regarded with suspicion by the more leftist element in the MARS Group, an organisation that included the Russian architect Berthold Lubetkin. The firm gained notoriety by submitting neo-classical designs to architectural competitions. This was regarded as a failure to live up to the principles of modernism. The firm was also dogged by the loss of a number of major commissions and the war put a stop to what work was available. A large block of flats and shops in St Johns Wood and Connell's post-war commission for the Edith Edwards Children’s Home at the Papworth Sanitorium were uncompleted. Lack of work caused financial hardship for his family. Despite this, he was well connected in the architectural circle of outsiders that dominated British design in the 1930s and was a friend of the Australian Raymond McGrath and the urbane Russian Serge Chermayeff. The work of Connell, Ward and Lucas was recognised by the RIBA with a Bronze Medal in 1964.

Connell's critical reputation has been reassessed in recent years. Long championed by English architect and writer Dennis Sharp, the work of Amyas Connell, along with Ward and Lucas, is moving away from an undeserved reputation as uncouth and colonial towards a more balanced summary that acknowledges his early appearance on the international modernist scene with a pair of houses that caught British architecture at a key point of change.

The firm was in the spotlight in 2004 when Greenside (1937), one of the small number of houses that they completed, was demolished unlawfully by the owner.

Connell died in London on 19 April 1980, aged 78.

References

• Benton, Charlotte. ‘Connell, Amyas Douglas (1901–1980)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
• Findlay, M. So High You Can't Get Over It "Pleasing homogeneity", "Dull times", and "animated cocktails" New Zealand Architecture in the 1930s: a one-day symposium ed. Christine McCarthy, Centre for Building Performance Research, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand, 2006
• Sharp, Dennis (ed.) Connell, Ward and Lucas. London: Book Art. 1994.
• Sharp, Dennis and Sally Rendel. Connell Ward and Lucas: Modernist Architecture in England, London: Frances Lincoln, 2008
• Thistlewood, David and Heeley, Edward. "Connell, Ward and Lucas: towards a complex critique", The Journal of Architecture, Vol 2, Spring 1997. London: The Royal Institute of British Architects/Routledge.

External links

• Dennis Sharp archive at the Paul Mellon Centre; research papers on the works of Connell, Ward & Lucas