David John Mackay (1933 – 2014) was a British

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 ...

and partner in MBM, an architecture firm based in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He was mostly active in Catalonia.

Biography

David John Mackay was born on 25 December 1933 in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. His father was a "colonial administrator" in India and Ghana, and his parents mostly lived abroad. Mackay was the youngest child in the family and attended boarding schools in England, Ireland and Scotland. In 1957, he married Catalan Roser Jarque, whom he met in London. In 1958, Mackay and Roser moved to Barcelona after college.

Career

He was mostly active in designing in

, where among other projects he worked on the design for the renovation of the port area of

, and the design and construction of the

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

there in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. One of MBM's latest projects is the construction of the

Disseny Hub Barcelona The Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (Catalan, English: "Barcelona Design Museum"), is a center for Barcelona's Institute of Culture, which works to promote better understanding and good use of the design world, acting as a museum and laboratory. It ...

centre and museum building, which officially opened in December, 2014, shortly after David Mackay died. From 2003 he was the lead architect for "A Vision for Plymouth", otherwise known as the "Mackay Vision", which is a major plan for the renovation of the city of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, England. The plan will involve demolition of the

Plymouth Pavilions Plymouth Pavilions is an entertainment and sports complex in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has an ice rink and indoor arena. The arena is used as an entertainment venue and also for corporate hire. The Pavilions is built on the site of the form ...

entertainment arena. In 2013 his last book, "On Life and Architecture", was published by the

Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) is the professional body for architects in Scotland. History Previously the (lapsed) Architectural Institute of Scotland, it was re-founded in 1916 as the Incorporation of Architects in ...

(RIAS).Mackay, David. "On Life and Architecture". The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), December, 2003. Accessed 2014-06-0

/ref> In 2004 Mackay was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from

Plymouth University The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

. Mackay died on 12 November 2014 in

References

1933 births 2014 deaths 20th-century English architects Architects from Sussex {{england-architect-stub