Showing 2856 results

Influential English urban designer who was a key motivator in the Townscape movement.

Cullen was born in Calverley, Pudsey, near Leeds. He studied architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic, the present day University of Westminster, and subsequently worked as a draughtsman in various architects' offices including that of Berthold Lubetkin and Tecton, but he never qualified or practised as an architect.

Between 1944 and 1946 he worked in the planning office of the Development and Welfare Department in Barbados, as his poor eyesight meant that he was unfit to serve in the British armed forces. He later returned to London and joined the Architectural Review journal, first as a draughtsman and then as a writer on planning policies. There he produced a large number of influential editorials and case studies on the theory of planning and the design of towns. He was also involved in the Festival of Britain in 1951.

His techniques consisted largely of sketchy drawings that conveyed a particularly clear understanding of his ideas, and these had a considerable influence on subsequent architectural illustration styles. He also illustrated several books by other various authors, before writing his own book - based on the idea of Townscape - in 1961. The Concise Townscape has subsequently been republished around 15 times, proving to be one of the most popular books on Urban Design in the 20th Century.

In 1956 Cullen became a freelance writer and consultant and, in the years immediately following he advised the cities of Liverpool and Peterborough on their reconstruction and redevelopment plans. In 1960 he was invited to India to advise on the planning aspects of the Ford Foundation's work in New Delhi and Calcutta and so in 1962 he and his family lived in India for 6 months while he worked on the projects. Later, his work included planning advice to the city of Glasgow and during the 1980s, the London Docklands Development Corporation.

For a while Cullen teamed up with a student, David Price, and they formed an architectural firm together - Price & Cullen. They won a competition in London in the 1980s and together designed and oversaw the building of the Swedish Quays housing development in Docklands. They worked together until 1990 as Cullen's health was deteriorating. Price died in 2009 at the age of 53.

Cullen lived in the small village of Wraysbury (Berkshire) from 1958 until his death, aged 80, on 11 August 1994, following a serious stroke. After his passing, David Gosling and Norman Foster collected various examples of his work and put them together in the book "Visions of Urban Design".

In 1972 he was elected Honorary Fellow of the RIBA. In 1975 he was awarded with an RDI for illustration and Townscape. The following year he was awarded a medal from The American Institute of Architects. In 1978 he was awarded a CBE for his contribution to architecture.

Activities include:
Assistant Editor Architectural Review, 1945-1955
Author of Townscape, textbook on visual planning
Civic design consultant to replanning of Delhi for Ford Foundation and local authority
Ditto Calcutta
Townscape consultant to replanning teams: Liverpool, Bolton and Northampton
Survey and proposals for Castletown and Peel, Isle of Man for Local Government Board
Consultant to replanning of Llantrisant for Glamorgan County Council
Survey of Tenterden as Conservation Area for the Borough and Kent County Council (with F MacManus)
Proposals for redevelopment of Kentish Town for Borough of Camden
Consultant to Bucks County Council, Village development

Dr Dorothy Blair was a well-known translator of French and francophone literature into English.

Dorothy Blair (nee Greene) died on 12 November 1998 at the age of 85. Born in Birmingham, she was awarded a scholarship to Royal Holloway and, after graduating, trained at Cambridge to teach French. Her marriage in 1939 to Dr Maurice Blair took her to South Africa, where she spent 37 years bringing up 3 children and pursuing her career, first as a university lecturer at the University of Cape Town, and eventually as professor and acting head of the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Witwatersrand. She published her doctoral thesis on the poet Jules Supervielle and became an authority on the emergent literature of Francophone Africa, publishing 'African Literature in French' in 1976. On her retirement she settled in Brighton and, while continuing critical writing, began freelance literary translations from French, specialising in works from the Caribbean and Africa, including the Maghreb.

Irish-born, Sam Ferris went to school in Glasgow and soon after his return to Northern Ireland in 1918 he enlisted in the RAF and served in India for four years where he first developed his interest in running. On his return home, he joined Shettleston Harriers and in his marathon debut he finished second in the 1924 Poly race. He went on to win the event a record eight times (1925-29, 1931-33). With his first three victories he also took the incorporated AAA title. He competed in three Olympic marathons: 1924 (5th), 1928 (8th), and 1932 (2nd) and set British records with 2-35:58.2 (1925) and 2-35:27 (1927). After losing the record to Harry Payne in July 1928 he set his third British record two months later with 2-33:00 at Liverpool. He also won the silver medal at the 1930 British Empire Games (competed for England; Northern Ireland did not participate) and represented Ireland in the International Cross-Country three times (1925-27). After 32 years service he retired from the RAF in 1950 and for many years reported for Athletics Weekly on road running.

Affiliated to Royal Air Force/Shettleston Harriers/Herne Hill Harriers.

Born in Dromore, Northern Ireland. Died in Torquay, England.

Born in London. Died in Ringwood, Hampshire.

At the 1925 AAA Championships, Frederick Chauncy finished fourth in the 120y hurdles and was selected for the match against France. In 1928 he fell heavily in his heat of the AAA 440y hurdles but was still chosen for the Olympic team. In Amsterdam he reached the semi-finals but, following an unfortunate draw, he was eliminated by the athletes who took the first three places in the final.
Commissioned into the King’s Regiment he surprisingly never won an Army title. From 1932-36, he served as British Vice-Consul in Mohammerah, Persia.