Robert Matthew
Sir Robert Hogg Matthew,
Early life and studies
Robert Matthew was the son of John Fraser Matthew (1875–1955)[1] (also an architect, and the partner of Sir Robert Lorimer) and his wife, Annie Broadfoot Hogg.[2]
From 1920 the family lived at 43 Minto Street[1] ironically the epitome of Georgian classicism rather than modern architecture.
Robert was born and brought up in Edinburgh, was educated at Edinburgh Institution and attended the Edinburgh College of Art where he studied under John Begg.[2][3]
Family life
In 1931 Matthew married Lorna Pilcher. They had three children: Robert Aidan Matthew, born in July 1936, Janet Frances Catriona Matthew, born in March 1939, and Jessie Ann Matthew born in June 1952. From 1939 they lived at 12 Darnaway Street, Edinburgh and from 1956 they lived at Keith Marischal House, Humbie, East Lothian.[2]
Career
Robert was apprenticed with his father's firm. Then in 1936, he joined the
In 1946 Matthew moved to London, becoming Chief Architect and Planning Officer to the London County Council, where he served from 1946 to 1953, working on the post-war reconstruction of Greater London and masterminding the Festival of Britain including such buildings as the Royal Festival Hall, 1951. It was during these formative postwar years that the LCC's housing and town planning policy established an international reputation, and many housing schemes (including the famous Roehampton housing estate) were created, as well as many schools.[7]
In 1956 with
Matthew was closely involved with Basil Spence and Alan Reiach in the University's development plan for George Square, which ultimately resulted in the demolition of buildings on three sides of the square, and their replacement with modernist structures. Matthew/RMJM were directly responsible for the design of the Arts Faculty buildings, now called 40 George Square (formerly David Hume Tower), the Adam Ferguson building and the William Robertson Building.
In the early 1960s Matthew was involved in the replacement of overcrowded, insanitary tenement housing in Hutchesontown, Glasgow with high rise tower blocks. He worked alongside Basil Spence in the planning and design of the controversial Area C blocks in the Gorbals. Independently of Spence, RMJM designed the adjacent Area B estate which unlike the ill-fated Area C blocks, has survived and will become the only surviving high rise blocks in the Gorbals.
In Edinburgh he was also behind the
Elsewhere Matthew/RMJM were both involved in the design for various academic campuses – one of his earliest commissions was the Tower Building for the University of Dundee in 1961 – at the time the tallest structure in the city. RMJM were also closely involved with the Royal College of Science and Technology in Glasgow, developing its campus masterplan in the early 1960s when it received its Royal Charter to become the University of Strathclyde, designing the Colville Building in tandem with Frank Fielden's celebrated Architecture School in 1966.
Later the practice was involved with the University of Stirling and University of York. RMJM also contributed to Pakistan's new capital buildings in Islamabad.[2]
Honours
During his studies Robert Matthew won the
Other arts
Apart from his work as an architect, Matthew produced drawings that were widely exhibited, and also paintings, although they are less well known. Both display the same aesthetic concerns as Le Corbusier, Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore all of whom he was able to count among his friends and colleagues.
References
- ^ a b "West Blackett Local History, Notable people; Minto Street – Matthew, John F". West Blackett Association. September 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d e "Robert Hogg Matthew". Dictionary of Scottish Architects; Biography Report; Basic Biographical Details. Scottish Architects. 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ^ "Appendix 1; Architects and Designers' Biographies; Architects at the University of Stirling; Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall and Partners" (PDF). University of Stirling Estates & Campus Services, Campus Conservation Plan. University of Stirling. October 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ^ Dictionary of Scottish Architects: John Wilson
- ^ McManus, David (28 May 2012). "George Square Edinburgh – Buildings". www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk.
- ^ "Timber Cladding in Scotland". Gov.scot. 30 May 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ "Document for Press conference for the reopening of the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Tuesday 29 May 2007" (PDF).