Basil Spence

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Basil Urwin Spence , OM , OBE , RA (born August 13, 1907 in Bombay - † November 19, 1976 ) was a Scottish architect, known for the Coventry Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament in Wellington .

His father was a precious metal tester for the Royal Mint .

After attending school in India, Basil was sent to Scotland, where he graduated from George Watson's College in Edinburgh from 1919 to 1925 . Spence then studied architecture at the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA). During a year of practice in London, he attended evening classes with Albert Edward Richardson at the Bartlett School of Architecture . When he returned to the ECA in 1930 for his senior year, he was given a teaching position there, although still a student. He taught in Edinburgh until 1939 when he was called up for military service.

Industrial architecture in the Art Deco style : the Southside Garage in Edinburgh, 1933

After graduating in 1931, he opened an office with William Kininmonth . He soon specialized in exhibition architecture, for example for the Empire Exhibition (Glasgow 1938) .

Spence took part in D-Day in 1944. After the war he opened his own office with Bruce Robertson.

From 1955 to 1957 Spence taught at the University of Leeds . From 1958 to 1960 he was chairman of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Brutal concrete : the British Embassy in Rome floats on stands

In 1959 Spence received three major contracts: the British Embassy next to Michelangelo's Porta Pia in Rome (completed in 1971), the high-rise residential building in Hyde Park Barracks in London (completed in 1970) and the construction of several high-rise residential buildings in the Gorbal redevelopment area in Glasgow (completed in 1965, demolished in 1993).

literature

Web links

Commons : Basil Spence  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ British Embassy. In: arch INFORM .
  2. ^ British Embassy at Structurae
  3. ↑ Sir Basil Spence Archives: HYDE PARK CAVALRY BARRACKS // LONDON, ENGLAND
  4. ↑ Hutchesontown C Development, THE GORBALS, GLASGOW, SCOTLAND , Sir Basil Spence Archive Project of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS)
personal data
SURNAME Spence, Basil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spence, Sir Basil Urwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish architect
DATE OF BIRTH August 13, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Bombay
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1976