Dennis Sharp

16 boxes. This material has been catalogued. Please search the archive catalogue for full details (Ref DCS). An introduction to this archive, including an online gallery of selected material, can be viewed on the collection in focus page.

This archive contains material compiled and collected by Dennis Sharp in the course of his research on the architecture of Connell, Ward & Lucas, which culminated in an exhibition held at the Building Centre in London, September 1994 and the publication he co-authored with Sally Rendel Connell, Ward and Lucas : modern movement architects in England 1929-1939 (2008).

Connell, Ward and Lucas (1933-1939) played a leading role in the modernist movement in England. Their work exploited the potential of new materials: glass, reinforced concrete and steel. In the 6 years they were in partnership together, they never deviated from their Corbusian principles, producing some of the most authentic modern buildings of the 1930s, many of which now have iconic status.

Alongside Sharp's own research material, the archive also includes original records from the Connell, Ward and Lucas practice, acquired by Sharp from Amyas Connell's son, James. The collection comprises correspondence, images, research notes, as well as a small number of drawings, advertising material and some planning application correspondence. There are files on most of the housing projects undertaken by Connell, Ward & Lucas including High and Over; 66 Frognal; The Flat Roof House and The Sun Houses.

Dennis Sharp (1933-2010) was an architect, lecturer, and author. He was a senior lecturer at the Architectural Association (AA), editor of 'AA Quarterly' and also an AA Vice President. As well as being guest lecturer at institutions in the UK and abroad, he was also Vice President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), co-founder of the RIBA Architecture Centre and its Chairman until 1996, and co-chair of the International Working Party for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement (DOCOMOMO). Dennis Sharp was a partner in Dennis Sharp Architects, whose projects included the award-winning Strawdance Studio, the renovation of major listed buildings at Royal Ascot Racecourse and Foster's Renault Centre Swindon.