Phineas Harper leaving Open City after four years as Director
Four years to the day since Phineas Harper joined Open City on the cusp of the Covid pandemic, they have announced they are moving on to pursue more writing and curatorial projects
Phineas, who was appointed Director early in 2020, led Open City during one of the most demanding times in its history, successfully navigating national lockdowns, major funding obstacles and runaway inflation among many other challenges.
In their time at Open City, they oversaw huge change across the organisation including leading crucial digital projects, co-creating multiple new award-winning programmes, supporting the launch of 17 new Open House Festivals around the world, helping secure the charity’s largest ever grant and corporate partnerships, and publishing a number of acclaimed books. Open City is now larger, more diverse and more socially impactful in part thanks to Phin’s huge contribution to our work.
Deborah Denner, chair of Open City said: “The energy and dynamism that Phin has brought to Open City has been immense. Their commitment to expanding the reach and impact of the charity’s education work has seen it grow significantly, reaching more young people from under-represented communities to learn about architecture and city making. Their innovative approach to Open City’s events programme has included launching the Accelerate Debates where panellists and the audience explore issues critical to the design of our cities. The much loved Open House Festival has continued to thrive, but through Phin’s ambitious leadership the charity now achieves so much more.”
Phineas said: “I’m so proud of what the team and I have achieved over the last four years at Open City. There were real moments when it felt like the pandemic could spell curtains for the organisation but instead today the charity’s programmes, from the Open House Festivals to its schools work and year-round tours and podcasts, are richer and more impactful than ever. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported Open City and me personally during my time as Director. I can’t wait to see where the extraordinary team I’m leaving behind takes Open City next.”