Phineas Harper is an innovative leader in developing sustainable cultural programmes that engage broad audiences with architecture and design. A regular contributor to The Guardian, their career spans criticism, curation, education, youth work, journalism and sculpture.

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BIO

As Chief Executive of charity Open City until 2024, Phineas’ led far-reaching and impactful change steering the organisation through the challenges of the pandemic while transforming and growing its programmes. In their four year term as Director, 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. They rebuilt the charity’s reserves to record levels while delivering above-inflation pay rises, and recruiting a more diverse staff team and board.

Phineas’ career is marked by a long-standing commitment to making architecture and heritage more engaging and accessible to younger and more 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.

In 2019 Phineas co-curated the Oslo Architecture Triennale on the theme of degrowth in collaboration with engineers Interrobang and geographer Cecilie Sachs Olsen. That year they also curated the 19th Architecture Prize of the Land Steiermark in Austria.

Previously Phineas served as Deputy Editor of the Architectural Review until 2015. They have also served on the jury of the Civic Trust Awards and Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Awards. They have written widely on the intersection of architecture and politics including for the Guardian, Dezeen, the Literary Review, the Independent, Harvard Design Magazine, and DOMUS. The books they have worked on as contributor, editor and publisher are listed below.

Before studying architecture Phineas was a trustee of the children’s charity Woodcraft Folk and served on the committee of the Big Lottery Fund’s Young People’s Fund.