Raymond Unwin

Sir Raymond Unwin (1863-1940) was a British architect and planner, who, with Ebenezer Howard, was responsible for popularising Garden City developments worldwide and who helped shape the built environment of the United Kingdom for much of the twentieth century.

Early Life

Born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Unwin became an engineer for the Staveley Iron and Coal Company in Derbyshire, where he was responsible, among other things, for constructing miners' housing. Inclined towards Christian Socialism, he came under the influence of John Ruskin and William Morris, and also the early utopian socialist Edward Carpenter, visiting him the utopian community Carpenter had founded near Sheffield. In 1893 his marriage brought him into close contact with Barry Parker - the two men married sisters - and they set up an architectural practice together. Their 1901 book, The Art of Building a Home, gained them the attention of the Arts and Crafts Movement.