AAI Awards Critic's Lecture 2026: Phineas Harper

AAI Awards Critic: Phineas Harper

Phineas Harper is a London-based writer, founder and cultural leader. A regular contributor to The Guardian, their career spans criticism, curation, education, youth work, journalism and sculpture.

Harper has served in a wide variety of roles across culture, media and design. They have been Chief Exeuctive of Open City, Deputy Director of the Architecture Foundation, Deputy Editor of the Architectural Review, Chair of the Design Council Homes Taskforce, Co-Founder of New Architecture Writers and Co-Chief Curator of the 2019 Oslo Triennale.

At Open City, Harper led far-reaching and impactful change steering the organisation through the challenges of the pandemic while transforming and growing its programmes for which they were awarded an Honary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architecture. As CEO they launched award-winning new educational and cultural initiatives, oversaw major digital infrastructure upgrades and secured the charity’s largest ever public grants and corporate sponsorships while building a more diverse staff team and board.

Harper’s career is marked, in particular, by a long-standing commitment to making design and heritage more engaging and accessible to diverse audiences. As Deputy Director of the Architecture Foundation they co-founded New Architecture Writers in collaboration with the historian Tom Wilkinson which has transformed the landscape of architectural criticism in the UK.

Previously, Harper co-curated the Oslo Architecture Triennale on the theme of degrowth and served as Deputy Editor of the Architectural Review. They also curated the 19th Architecture Prize of the Land Steiermark in Austria and have served on the juries of the Civic Trust Awards and Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Awards. They have written widely on the intersection of design and politics including for the Guardian, Dezeen, the Literary Review, the Independent, Harvard Design Magazine, and DOMUS.

Harper is a trustee of the Twentieth Century Society and was a trustee of Woodcraft Folk.

Photo credit: Luke & Nik x TOAST

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