Sir Alexander John Gordon, CBE (25 February 1917 – 12 July 1999) was a Welsh architect. Born in Ayr, Scotland, he was brought up and educated in Swansea and Cardiff. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he designed several major buildings in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

and Swansea, and from 1971 to 1973 he served as president of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

. In 1974 he summarised the needs of new architecture as 'Long life, loose fit, low energy'.

Biography

Gordon was born in Ayr, Scotland, the son of John Tullis Gordon (b. 1884), a telegraph engineer, and Euphemia Baxter Borrowman Gordon, née Simpson (1890–1942). In 1925 the family moved to Swansea. Gordon attended

Swansea Grammar School Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest i ...

, where his contemporaries included the poet

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Unde ...

, with whom he produced the school magazine, the composer Daniel Jones and the art critic Mervyn Levy. He lived in South Wales for the rest of his life, for many years at Llanblethian in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

. He was an enthusiastic

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individua ...

, and bequeathed 32 paintings to the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, including works by

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernist, he was associated with several major ...

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

Kyffin Williams Sir John Kyffin Williams, (9 May 1918 – 1 September 2006) was a Welsh landscape painter who lived at Pwllfanogl, Llanfairpwll, on the Island of Anglesey. Williams is widely regarded as the defining artist of Wales during the 20th century. Pe ...

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a lea ...

Ben Nicholson Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscape and still-life. Background and training Nicholson was born on 10 April 1894 in Den ...

and

Elisabeth Frink Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' obituary noted the three essential themes in her work as "the nature of Man; the 'horseness' of horses; and the divine in ...

and a portrait bust of himself by

Ivor Roberts-Jones Ivor Roberts-Jones (2 November 1913 – 9 December 1996) was an English sculptor of Welsh heritage on both his parents' sides. He is best known for his sculpted heads of notable people such as Yehudi Menuhin and George Thomas, Viscount Tonypand ...

. He retired in 1982, but retained a consultative role until 1988. He died in

St Hilary, Vale of Glamorgan St Hilary ( cy, Saint Hilari ) is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is located just south of the A48, about a mile southeast of the market town of Cowbridge. The village has a population of about 260, in approximately 80 houses ...

on 23 July 1999. He was unmarried.

Training

Gordon became a trainee architect in the Swansea Borough Architect's Department in 1935, and studied part-time for the

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

intermediate examination, which he passed before the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1936, while a trainee, he won the

Lord Mayor of Cardiff This is a list of mayors of Cardiff, Wales. The first mayor recorded for Cardiff was in 1126 though the title was generally given to the Constable or military governor of Cardiff Castle.

's competition for the design of street decorations to celebrate the coronation. During

he served as a major in the Royal Engineers, serving in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...

where he worked on large-scale construction projects. After leaving the Army, he studied at the Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff, and was awarded a diploma with special distinction in 1948.

Professional life

In 1949 Gordon entered into partnership with Thomas Alwyn Lloyd (1881–1960), forming ''T. Alwyn Lloyd and Gordon''. Initially the practice worked on public housing and housing for the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respo ...

. In 1949 he was appointed consultant architect to the Wales Gas Board, for which he designed a new headquarters, Snelling House, Cardiff (1966). This eight-story office block was the first of many large buildings that he designed. After Alwyn Lloyd's death in 1960, Gordon established ''Alex Gordon and Partners'' with Alun Roberts and David Humphreys. The business expanded, and had ten partners by 1972. Gordon was visiting professor at the

Bartlett School of Architecture Bartlett may refer to: Places *Bartlett Bay, Canada, Arctic waterway * Wharerata, New Zealand, also known as Bartletts United States * Bartlett, Illinois ** Bartlett station, a commuter railroad station * Bartlett, Iowa * Bartlett, Kansas * ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

Gordon was elected president of the South Wales Institute of Architects in 1967. He was active in the

and served as its president from 1971 to 1973.

''Long life, loose fit, low energy''

In 1974 he wrote a paper for the RIBA on the future shape of architecture, in which he argued that buildings should be designed for ''Long life, loose fit, low energy''. This phrase has since become widely used by architectural practices.

Buildings

*1955 University Sports Pavilion, Cardiff (Awarded RIBA Bronze Medal) *1966 Cyncoed Methodist Church, Cardiff (

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

) *1966 Snelling House, Cardiff. Headquarters of Wales Gas, now the Big Sleep hotel. *Mid-1960s Staff housing Atlantic College,

St Donats St Donats ( cy, Sain Dunwyd) is a village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales, located just west of the small town of Llantwit Major. The community includes the village of Marcross and the hamlets of Monknash and East and West ...

*1967 Cement and Concrete Association Training Centre, Fulmer Grange, Slough *1968 Churchill House, Cardiff *1970 Telephone Exchange Building, Swansea *1970 Cardiff University School of Music *1971

Sherman Theatre The Sherman Theatre ( cy, Theatr y Sherman) is a venue in the Cathays district of Cardiff. It was built as a twin-auditorium venue in 1973 with financial support from Cardiff University. Sherman Cymru was the name of the Sherman Theatre between ...

, Cardiff *1972 Mathematics Building, Cardiff University *1973 Students' Union Building, Cardiff University *1978 Transport House,

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

building, Cardiff *1979

Welsh Office The Welsh Office ( cy, Swyddfa Gymreig) was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State ...

Cathays Park Cathays Park ( cy, Parc Cathays) or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It ...

, Cardiff, now known as '' Crown Building 2'' *1981 Princess of Wales Hospital,

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

*1988

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some either way offences and appeals lied to it by the magistrates' courts. It is one of three Senior Courts of England and Wale ...

, Swansea

Public committees

* Cardiff Development Corporation *

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the pro ...

Royal Fine Art Commission The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) was an executive non-departmental public body of the UK government, established in 1999. It was funded by both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for C ...

* University Grants Committee * Welsh Arts Council

Awards and honours

* OBE (1967) *Honorary LL.D, University of Wales (1972) * CBE (1974) * Knighted (1988) *Honorary fellow, University College Cardiff (1989) *Honorary fellow,

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to ...

*Honorary fellow,

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a not-for-profit, national organization that has represented architects and architecture for over 100 years, in existence since 1907. The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built ...

*Honorary member,

Bund Deutscher Architekten The Association of German Architects (German: ''Bund Deutscher Architekten'', BDA) is an association of architects founded in 1903 in Germany. It publishes the bimonthly magazine ''der architekt''. The BDA has over 5,000 members. In 1995, it fo ...

''(Association of German Architects)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Alex 1917 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Welsh architects People from Ayr People educated at Bishop Gore School Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Welsh art collectors Alumni of the Welsh School of Architecture