{{short description|English architect (1876–1971)}} {{other people}} {{more citations needed|date=June 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Use British English|date=April 2017}} {{Infobox architect |name='''E Vincent Harris''' |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE|RA}} |image=E Vincent Harris.JPG |caption=Vincent Harris |birth_date={{birth date|1876|6|26|df=yes}} |birth_place=Devonport, England |death_date={{death date and age|1971|8|1|1876|6|26|df=yes}} |death_place= Bath, England |practice= |significant_buildings= Manchester Central Library (1934)<br>Sheffield City Hall (1932)<br>Leeds Civic Hall (1933) |significant_projects= Manchester Town Hall Extension (1938) |awards= }}

'''Emanuel Vincent Harris''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE|RA}} (26 June 1876 &ndash; 1 August 1971), often known as '''E. Vincent Harris''', was an English architect who designed several important public buildings in traditional styles.

==Early life== He was born in Devonport, Devon, and educated at Kingsbridge Grammar School. He was articled to the Plymouth architect James Harvey in 1893;<ref name="holder">Julian Holder (2007), ''Emanuel Vincent Harris and the survival of classicism in inter-war Manchester'', in: Clare Hartwell & Terry Wyke (editors), ''Making Manchester'', Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, {{ISBN|978-0-900942-01-3}}</ref> in 1897 he moved to London, where he assisted E. Keynes Purchase, Leonard Stokes and Sir William Emerson.<ref name="holder"/> From 1901 to 1907 he worked for the London County Council before setting up in private practice.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1919 Birthday Honours.

==Work== He was primarily a classicist; A. Stuart Gray wrote: "Some of his buildings suggest the influence of Sir Edwin Lutyens, but are bolder, balder, and less subtle or more frank depending on one's point of view."<ref name="holder"/> His work was often criticised by modernist architects. In his acceptance speech when he was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1951<ref name=Allinson>{{cite book|author=Allinson, Kenneth.|title=Architects and Architecture of London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7eZ8lWiARzUC&pg=PA294|date=2008|publisher=Oxford: Elsevier|isbn=9780750683371|pages=294}}</ref> Harris is reported to have said: "Look, a lot of you here tonight don't like what I do and I don't like what a lot of you do&nbsp;...".<ref name="holder"/>

He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1942. He died in Bath in 1971 and is buried in the village of Chaffcombe, Somerset.

==Important works== *University of Exeter Streatham Campus: site plan; Washington Singer Building (1931); Mardon Hall (1933); Roborough Library (1938); Mary Harris Memorial Chapel of the Holy Trinity (1958) *Board of Trade, Whitehall, London (competition 1914) *Glamorgan County Hall, Cardiff (competition 1908 – opened 1912) *Central Fire Station, Cardiff, (completed 1913 – demolished 1973) *Duke Street art gallery, London (1910–1912) *Sheffield City Hall (competition 1920 – opened 1932) *Nottingham County Hall (competition 1925 – construction 1939–1954) *Atkinsons Building, Old Bond Street, London (1926) *Braintree Town Hall 1928 *Leeds Civic Hall (competition 1926 – built 1931–1933) *Manchester Central Library (competition 1927 – built 1930–1934) *Sugworth Hall, Sheffield, (Tower and battlements) c.1930 *Somerset County Hall, Taunton (1932) *Manchester Town Hall Extension (competition 1927 – built 1934–1938) *County Hall, Chelmsford (Council chamber & foyer) *Bristol Council House (1938–1956) (Renamed City Hall in November 2012)<ref>{{cite web|title=History of City Hall - formerly known as the Council House|url=http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/city-hall/history-city-hall-formerly-known-council-house|website=Bristol City Council|access-date=9 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413150328/http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/city-hall/history-city-hall-formerly-known-council-house|archive-date=13 April 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> *Ministry of Defence Main Building (1938–1959) *Fergusson building, St Mary's College, Durham (1950s) *Mary Harris Memorial Chapel of the Holy Trinity, University of Exeter (1956–1958) *Kensington Central Library, Kensington, London (1958–1960)

==Gallery of works== <gallery> File:Burlington Gardens 1 (5820512459).jpg|Atkinsons Building, London (1926) File:Braintree Town Hall, 1992. 01.jpg|Braintree Town Hall (1928) File:Sheffield City Hall.JPG|Sheffield City Hall (1920–1934) File:Leeds Civic Hall.jpg|Leeds Civic Hall (1931–1933) File:Manchester Central Library.jpg|Manchester Central Library (1930–1934) File:County Hall, Taunton.jpg|County Hall, Taunton (1935) File:Bristol council house.jpg|Council House, Bristol (1938–1956) File:Ministry of Defence MoD Main Building, London MOD 45152986.jpg|Ministry of Defence Main Building, Whitehall, London (1959) File:Nottinghamshire County Hall - geograph.org.uk - 2397196.jpg|County Hall, Nottinghamshire (1954) File:Kensington Central Library 10.JPG|Kensington Central Library, London W8 (1960) File:10 Fitzroy Park, Highgate.jpg|10 Fitzroy Park, Highgate, completed in 1934, the house Harris designed for himself </gallery>

==References== <references/>

==Further reading== {{commons category|Vincent Harris}} *{{cite book|author=Gray, A. Stewart|title=Edwardian Architecture: a biographical dictionary|publisher=Duckworth|year=1985|isbn=0-7156-1012-0}} *{{cite journal|author=Reilly, Charles|title=E. Vincent Harris|journal=Building|volume=4|issue=9|pages=393|year=1929}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Vincent}} Category:1876 births Category:1971 deaths Category:British neoclassical architects Category:20th-century English architects Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Devonport, Plymouth Category:Royal Academicians Category:Artists' Rifles soldiers Category:Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Category:Burials in Somerset Category:Architects from Devon