MJ Long
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Mary Jane Long, Lady Wilson, OBE (July 31, 1939 – September 3, 2018), known as MJ Long, was an American
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
,
lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...
and author, best known for her work as a principal architect partner on the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
in London with her husband Sir Sandy Wilson. She created a series of purpose-built studios for the artists Peter Blake, RB Kitaj, Paul Huxley and Frank Auerbach, later documenting these in a book. In partnership with Rolfe Kentish as the practice Long & Kentish, she focused on designing museums, libraries and galleries, including the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, the Jewish Museum London in
Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...
and an extension to Pallant House Gallery. With Wilson, she also co-designed Spring House/Cornford House (1965) in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, for Christopher Cornford.


Early life and education

Long was born in
Summit, New Jersey Summit is the northernmost City (New Jersey), city of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the New York metropolitan area. Situated on a ridge in north Jersey, northern–central Jersey, centra ...
. She moved to Montreal, where she attended Westmount High School, graduating first in class in 1956. She studied at
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
before enrolling on a four-year architecture course at Yale School of Architecture, studying under Paul Rudolph.


Notable works

MJ Long was commissioned by RIBA to design the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall.


Personal life

It was at Yale that she met
Colin St John Wilson Sir Colin Alexander St John Wilson, Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA, Royal Academy, RA, (14 March 1922 – 14 May 2007) was an English architect, lecturer and author. With his partner MJ Long, Wilson spent over 30 years progressing t ...
(Sandy), and in 1965 joined his newly formed architecture practice in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. The couple married in 1972. She had two children.


See also

Long & Kentish website (external link) http://www.longkentish.com/practice.php


Bibliography

* Long, MJ (2003). ''The architects' story: National Maritime Museum Cornwall''. London: Long & Kentish architects.. * Long, MJ (2009). ''Artists' studios.'' London: Black Dog. * Wilson, Colin St John and MJ Long (2008). ''Kitaj: the architects''. London: Black Dog.


References

1939 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects Architects from New Jersey People associated with the British Library People from Summit, New Jersey Smith College alumni Yale University alumni Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire {{US-architect-20C-stub