The SAHGB interviews Gary A. Boyd: ‘Architecture and the Face of Coal’ receives the ADH Medallion
In this interview, Gary Boyd speaks to Hiba Alobaydi about his Architecture and the Face of Coal: Mining and Modern Britain, the winning publication awarded the 2023 Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion.
Hiba Alobaydi: First of all, congratulations on being shortlisted for the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion. What does it mean to you to be shortlisted for one of the most prestigious prizes, if not the most prestigious prize, in the discipline?
Gary Boyd: It is obviously an honour and a privilege, especially in the context of the other individuals on this year’s shortlist, as well as those celebrated in the past.
HA: The Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion celebrates individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of architectural history. Can you please share a pivotal moment or experience in your career that you believe led to your nomination for this prestigious award?
GB: Being awarded a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship was a significant moment. It provided me with not only with a huge opportunity to carry out the extensive research necessary to write Architecture and the Face of Coal but also represented an endorsement of my previous contributions to the field which I was and am also very grateful for.
HA: Your work has clearly left a lasting impact on the understanding and appreciation of architectural history. Could you discuss a specific project or research endeavour that you consider your most influential contribution to the field?
GB: I have always been interested in forms of non-canonical architecture and my research has concerned phenomenon as diverse as maternity and venereal hospitals, forms of infrastructure, cut-price supermarkets, war, and domestic space standards. The present study on the relationship between coal and of architecture in the United Kingdom – which engages with the role of coal mining in realising new social, technological, and public forms of building – will, I hope, open up new perspectives not only on overlooked aspects of the relationship between modernist architecture and the working classes but also contribute to on-going and future debates surrounding the role of the social production (and consumption) of energy in the shaping of our built environment.
Seafield Colliery, Kirkcaldy, Fife, 1967, designed by Egon Riis. Courtesy of the National Archives
HA: The Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion recognises excellence in scholarly pursuits. Can you delve into your research process and how it has evolved over the years, leading to the recognition you’ve received?
GB: My training was as an architect and not an architectural historian. I feel that this has meant design-based methodologies have influenced my work. I tend to try to absorb lots of aspects from varying sources – broad, secondary readings; close archival work; engagement with ephemera and other visual sources such as film – and synthesize these to produce new narratives and readings of phenomena which have been previously overlooked.
HA: How do you approach presenting complex architectural concepts to a broader audience, considering the diverse range of individuals interested in architectural history?
GB: Architecture is often made up of a complex combination of connections, influences and flows that are often abstract and invisible, while simultaneously also being a physical, tangible phenomenon which everyone experiences on a daily basis. I think it is important when writing about architecture to speak to both of these aspects as well as the relationship between them. I am also interested in how alternative forms of dissemination – exhibitions, websites, public engagement events, etc. – can expand engagement with the histories of architecture and design and realise different forms of understanding within new audiences.
Hafodyrnys Pithead baths South Wales, 1936, designed by W. M. Traylor, Miners' Welfare Committee Architects. Courtesy of the National Archives
HA: The study of architectural history often reveals insights about societal, cultural, and technological shifts. Can you please explain how your book uncovered intriguing connections between architecture and broader historical contexts?
GB: In my work it is generally the social aspects of architecture which interest me most. A large part of Architecture and the Face of Coal seeks to uncover the conditions surrounding the use of modern architectural space, form and aesthetics to contribute to the welfare of a specific section of the British working classes: those men and women who lived and worked within the coalfields and coalmining and collectively provided the energy at times for almost everything else to function.
Women's Washing facilities at Chisnall Hall Colliery, Lancashire, 1930s. Courtesy of the National Archives
The modern architecture of Comrie Colliery, Fife, designed by J. H. Forshaw, and shown here in a collage encouraging young people to join the industry. Mining People, 1945 (Out of copyright).
HA: Who or what has been a major source of inspiration for your research and scholarly pursuits? How has this inspiration influenced your approach to studying and disseminating architectural history?
GB: I have benefitted immensely from the generosity of ideas and time from so many colleagues and mentors – many of whom I call friends – who have advised me and influenced my academic direction of travel. In terms of a singular textual inspiration, I was introduced to Karl Marx’s essay ‘The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof’ by a particularly inspiring teacher while I was an undergraduate architecture student at Strathclyde University. Its lesson – that behind the appearance of the most simple of objects there lies a complex series of social and other conditions of production concerning by whom, how, and from what it has been made, transported, etc.– has animated my work since and, I feel, is all the more relevant within the context of the climate crisis.
HA: As the field of architectural history evolves, how do you stay current with new research methodologies and technological advancements that enhance our understanding of past architectural achievements?
GB: Theoretically and in terms of content there has been a very positive opening up of architectural history to engage with issues of gender; climate change; and global, post-colonial narratives. Regarding advancements in research methodologies, the increasing impact of digital humanities techniques on architectural history is creating new possibilities for information retrieval, processing, and the dissemination of work. In addition to written work I have had opportunities – at, for example, the Venice Biennale and EXPO 2020 – to pursue and convey architectural histories through alternative forms and media including spatial and web-based digital forms. I am hoping to continue to develop these strands of dissemination further in future projects.
HA: The Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion celebrates your dedication to advancing architectural history. Could you share a personal or professional challenge you’ve faced and how you’ve overcome it?
GB: As it happened my mother died at the very beginning of the research for Architecture and the Face of Coal and my only uncle and only surviving relative from my father’s side of the family towards its ending. It was my uncle who had first pointed out the remnants of a coalmine to me when I was a small boy on our habitual walks in Falkirk, my home town in Scotland, and let me explore the steps to nowhere that had served a by-then-vanished pithead baths where the miners could wash themselves before returning to their homes. This is one of the key themes in my book and writing about it provided a lovely and therapeutic way of remembering him and his wisdom. Obviously the closure of archives during COVID affected us all and, like everyone else, I had to establish digital and virtual workarounds to effect progress.
HA: Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for the continued exploration and contribution to architectural history? How do you envision your work impacting future generations of scholars and enthusiasts?
GB: I think it is critical that we continue to widen cognisance of the varying actors that have influenced architectural and spatial culture and the production of the built environment. Central to this is an acknowledgement of the impact of energy sources and use. I am currently work on the idea of the coalscape – a pervasive, interdependent network of beliefs and practices that enfolded geologies, energies, bodies and architectural space to exert a significant influence on the social and spatial foundation not just of the UK but also modern Europe, including its welfare state projects and the origins of the European Union. In doing so I hope to help develop a piece of intellectual infrastructure which will contribute to the rethinking of the critical intimacies between our energy sources, cultural and social lives and built environment that have contributed to the Anthropocene.
Gary A. Boyd is a Professor in Architecture at Queen’s University, Belfast
Architecture and the Face of Coal is published by Lund Humphries
On the left: SAHGB’s president, Elizabeth McKellar, announcing the winner of the AHD Medallion.
On the right: Gary Boyd delivering his acceptance speech for the ADH Medallion.