CIVIC IN AN ENTIRELY MODERN MANNER, BUT RESPECTFUL OF HARRIS' MONUMENTAL CLASSICISM

摘要

Reporting for the Architectural Review in 1933, John Betjeman (then on the staff of the AR) was impressed by the newly opened Civic Hall in Leeds - 'as the sightseer wanders among the hotchpotch of commercial styles around Infirmary Street and the City Square, he suddenly catches a glimpse of one or other brilliant white steeple, rising above tram lines and turrets, terminating an otherwise dreary street'. Designed by E Vincent Harris, the Civic Hall was conceived as a shot in the arm for a city beginning to feel the effects of the Depression. Government grants, intended to provide work for the unemployed, helped to fund the project. The building is now recognised as an outstanding example of inter-war traditionalism, constructed of richly decorated Portland stone on a steel frame.