Sir Colin St John Wilson, former Head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge, died in 2007, aged 85.
Sir Colin St John Wilson, former Head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge, died in 2007, aged 85.
Sir Colin Wilson worked at the London County Council architects department after graduating, under the directorship of Sir Leslie Martin, alongside James Stirling, and Alison and Peter Smithson.
He worked for a development company for a year before becoming a lecturer in architecture at Cambridge University, where Martin was appointed Professor of Architecture. He retired from teaching in 1969 to concentrate on his architectural practice.
Wilson and Martin practised together as architects from offices in Cambridge, designing Harvey Court at Gonville and Caius College, the Law, English and Statistical Libraries on Manor Road in Oxford, and other buildings in Cambridge and London.
In terms of architectural production, Wilson is best known for designing the current British Library building in London. It was the largest public building built in the last century in London. The project began in 1962 but due to political wrangling and the extraordinary complexity of the location it was not completed until 1997.
The architecture of the huge building is influenced by several sources: the surrounding Victorian architecture in the St Pancras area of London, the collegiate architecture of Cambridge University and, in the interior, the work of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.
Wilson returned to Cambridge to become Professor of Architecture in 1975. He retired in 1989.
He was also a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Academy, and was knighted in 1998.
More recently, Wilson designed the new Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, England. He donated his collection of 400 works of art, worth £5m, to the gallery, which opened in June 2006. The design of the gallery was shortlisted for the Gulbenkian Prize and a RIBA Award in 2007.
The Head of the Cambridge Department of Architecture, Professor Marcial Echenique, said: ‘Sandy was a remarkable figure in British architecture. He influenced many generations of architecture students here. Under his leadership, the department flourished and its position today as the leading school in the country is his legacy.'
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