Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion
The book Architecture Follows Fish, An Amphibious History of the North Atlantic by André Tavares (MIT Press, 2024), which delves into the main hypotheses of the Fishing Architecture research project, has been granted The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain publications award.
Jury citation: “This groundbreaking book explores the relationship between architecture and ecology. In it Tavares traces the ways in which the harvesting, processing and selling of fish has shaped architecture in the North Atlantic. The book ranges widely geographical and chronologically from the colonial fishing and whaling grounds of Newfoundland and America to the Atlantic coasts of Scandinavia and Portugal and then down through the North Sea to Billingsgate Market. It concludes with the impact of refrigeration and industrialisation on the marine environment. Tavares argues that it is not just fishing, but also the characteristics of the different types of fish themselves, which have shaped human’s interactions with the piscatorial. In so doing Tavares extends the boundaries of architectural history to embrace the maritime and the terrestrial together in one overarching and highly original account.”
Judging panel: Professor Elizabeth McKellar (Chair, President, SAHGB), Dr. Zoë Opacic (Birkbeck), Professor Florian Urban (Glasgow School of Art), Dr. Patrick Zamarian (University of Liverpool), Professor Gary Boyd (University College Dublin), Professor Hilary Grainger (UAL, London).
Recent book reviews:
— J. Keri Cronin, “Review”, in The Art Bulletin, vol. 107, no. 3, 2025, pp. 145-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043079.2025.2537620
— Katherine McNally, Review, in H-Oceans, H-Net Reviews in the Humanities & Social Sciences, October 2025, online. https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=61533
— Nuno Grancho, “Book Review”, in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol. 84, no. 3, September 2025, pp. 424–425. https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2025.84.3.424
— Matthew McKenzie, “Review”, in Technology and Culture, vol. 66, no. 3, July 2025, pp. 917-918. https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2025.a965857
— Andrew Toland, “Blue Architectural History”, in Architectural Theory Review, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 300-305. https://doi.org/10.1080/13264826.2025.2520700
— Marija Barović, “Architecture Follows Fish: An Amphibious History of the North Atlantic” in Prostor. A Scholarly Journal of Architecture and Urban Planning, vol. 33, no. 1(69), Zagreb, 2025, p. 174. https://ojs.srce.hr/index.php/prostor/article/view/36508
— William Morgan, “Casting a Wide Net” in The Architect’s Newspaper, May 2025, p. 80. https://www.archpaper.com/2025/06/andre-tavaress-architecture-follows-fish/
— John Hill, “Let’s Go Fishing” in A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books, Substack, April 7, 2025. https://archidose.substack.com/p/architecture-books-week-152025
— Gabriele Neri, “Pesce che hai, edifici che trovi” in Il Sole 24 Ore, 30 Marzo 2025, no. 88.
André Tavares, Architecture Follows Fish. An Amphibious History of the North Atlantic, The MIT Press, 2024, 288 pp., 128 b&w illus. ISBN: 9780262049108.
The publication of this book was made possible by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.
For further details on the book see the publisher’s website: mitpress.mit.edu
The Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion – awarded since 1959 – is given annually to the author of a monograph which provides an outstanding contribution to the study or knowledge of architectural history. The medallion, a Wedgwood portrait of James ‘Athenian’ Stuart, was presented to the Society by Professor Henry-Russell Hitchcock in memory of his mother.
Informations: The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain
