Edwin Maxwell Fry
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Edwin Maxwell Fry,
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
, RA,
FRIBA 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 ...
, F
RTPI RTP Internacional (RTPi) is a Portuguese free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). It is the company's International broadcasting, international television service, ...
(2 August 1899 – 3 September 1987) was an English
modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
architect, writer and painter. Originally trained in the neo-classical style of architecture, Fry grew to favour the new modernist style, and practised with eminent colleagues including
Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...
,
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
and
Pierre Jeanneret Pierre Jeanneret (22 March 1896 – 4 December 1967) was a Swiss architect who collaborated with his cousin, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (who assumed the pseudonym Le Corbusier), for about twenty years. Early life Arnold-André-Pierre Jean ...
. Fry was a major influence on a generation of young architects. Among the younger colleagues with whom he worked was
Denys Lasdun Sir Denys Louis Lasdun, CH, CBE, RA (8 September 1914, Kensington, London – 11 January 2001, Fulham, London) was an eminent English architect, the son of Nathan Lasdun (1879–1920) and Julie (''née'' Abrahams; 1884–1963). Probably his b ...
. In the 1940s, Fry designed buildings for West African countries that were then part of the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
, including Ghana and Nigeria. In the 1950s, he and his wife, the architect
Jane Drew Dame Jane Drew (24 March 1911 – 27 July 1996) was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the Architectural Association School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Moder ...
, worked for three years with Le Corbusier on an ambitious development to create the new capital city of
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
at
Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...
. Fry's works in Britain range from railway stations to private houses to large corporate headquarters. Among his best known works in the UK is the Kensal House flats in
Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also the name of the sur ...
, London, designed with Walter Gropius, which was aimed at providing high quality low cost housing, on which Fry and Gropius also collaborated with Elizabeth Denby to set new standards. Fry's writings include critical and descriptive books on town planning and architecture, notably his ''Art in a Machine Age''. His last book was the ''Autobiographical Sketches'' of his life from boyhood up to the time of his marriage to Jane Drew.


Biography


Early years

Fry was born in
Liscard Liscard is an area of the town of Wallasey, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The most centrally located of Wallasey's townships, it is the main shopping area of the town, with many shops located in the Cherry Tree Sh ...
, Cheshire (now Merseyside). He describes his father, Canadian-born Ambrose Fry, as a "business man with all sorts of irons in the fire – chemicals, electricals, old property..."; he mentions living in a terrace house converted by his father overlooking
Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Liverpool, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Liverpool and is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, diocese of Liverpool. The church may be formally re ...
; and his first job was working in his father's factory, the Liverpool Borax Co. in Edge Street. His mother was Lydia (Lily) Thompson. He had two older sisters, Muriel and
Nora Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (1931–2025), French historian * Simon Nora (1921–2006), French politician Place ...
, and a younger brother Sydney. To his family and friends he was known as Maxi or Max. Fry was educated at the Liverpool Institute High School.Powers, Alan
"Fry, (Edwin) Maxwell (1899–1987)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2010, accessed 29 April 2011
He served in the King's Liverpool regiment at the end of the First World War. After the war he received an ex-serviceman's grant that enabled him to enter
Liverpool University The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the de ...
school of architecture in 1920, where he was trained in "the suave neo-Georgian classicism"Liscombe, Rhodri Windsor
"Modernism in Late Imperial British West Africa: The Work of Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, 1946–56"
''Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', Vol. 65, No. 2 (June 2006), pp. 188–215
of Professor Charles Reilly. The curriculum of the course included town planning as an important component, and Fry retained an interest in planning throughout his career. He gained his diploma with distinction in 1923. The next year he worked for a short time in New York before returning to England to join the office of
Thomas Adams Thomas Adams may refer to: Politicians *Thomas Adams (MP), Member of Parliament for Bedford *Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet (1586–1667/68), Lord Mayor of London * Thomas Adams (politician) (1730–1788), Virginia delegate to the Continental Congr ...
and F. Longstreth Thompson, specialists in town planning. His next post was as an assistant in the architect's department of the Southern Railway, where in 1924–1926 he worked on three neo-classically styled railway stations, at
Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...
,
Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...
and Dumpton Park, the first two (both in Kent) being Grade II Listed. In 1926, he married his first wife Ethel Leese (''née'' Speakman). She was a divorcee, previously married to Lancashire cricketer
Charles Leese Charles Philip Leese (22 May 1889 – 19 January 1947) was an English cricketer active from 1908 to 1911 who played for Lancashire. He was born in Manchester and died in Shropshire. He appeared in 16 first-class matches as a righthanded batsman, ...
(1889–1947), and aged 38 when they married. The marriage was not happy: Max described her as "a too well-bred wife without a frolic in her nature ... with the same determination s her motherto be well thought of without trying", and he also noted that she was a chain smoker. They had one daughter, Ann Fry. He returned to Adams and Thompson in 1930 as a partner.


Modernism

In a 2006 study of Fry in the ''Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', R. W. Liscombe writes that Fry, frustrated at the prevailing conservatism of British architecture and society, renounced Reilly's neo-classicism in favour of "an independent functionalist design idiom modified from the main German and French progenitors of the modern movement". Liscombe adds that the "austere formalism and social idealism" of continental modernism appealed to Fry's moral outlook and his desire for social change. Fry's biographer
Alan Powers Alan Powers (born 1955) is a British teacher, researcher and writer on twentieth-century architecture and design. Early life Powers was raised on the borders of Hampstead Heath and in Suffolk. His father Michael was an architect member of the ...
writes that the change in Fry's aesthetic views came gradually; he continued to design in the neo-classical style for some years: "As a partner in Adams, Thompson and Fry, he designed a garden village at Kemsley near Sittingbourne in 1929, and a house at Wentworth, Surrey, in 1932, in the refined neo-Georgian style typical of the Liverpool school."
Wells Coates Wells Wintemute Coates (December 17, 1895 – June 17, 1958) was an architect, designer and writer. He was, for most of his life, an expatriate Canadian who is best known for his work in England, the most notable of which is the Modernist block ...
, a colleague at Adams, Thompson and Fry tried to enthuse Fry with the example of
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
, but his conversion to modernism, in Powers's words, "came principally through his membership of the
Design and Industries Association The Design and Industries Association is a United Kingdom charity whose object is to ''engage with all those who share a common interest in the contribution that design can make to the delivery of goods and services that are sustainable and enhance ...
, which introduced him to modern German housing. ... rywas also influenced by the
Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne The ''Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne'' (CIAM), or International Congresses of Modern Architecture, was an organization founded in 1928 and disbanded in 1959, responsible for a series of events and congresses arranged across Europ ...
, and was closely involved in its English branch, the Modern Architectural Research (MARS) Group, following its establishment in 1933." Even after his espousal of modernism, Fry remained fond of neo-classical architecture, lending his support to a campaign to preserve Nash's
Carlton House Terrace Carlton House Terrace is a street in the St James's district of the City of Westminster in London. Its principal architectural feature is a pair of terraces, the Western and Eastern terraces, of white stucco-faced houses on the south side of ...
in the 1930s. Fry was one of the few modernist architects working in Britain in the thirties who were British; most were immigrants from continental Europe, where modernism originated. Among them was
Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...
, former director of the
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...
, who fled from Nazi Germany in 1934 and with whom Fry set up a practice in London in the same year. The partnership lasted until 1936, when Gropius, receiving offers of work from Harvard University, decided to emigrate to the US. Gropius wanted Fry to go with him, saying "your country will be at war", but though Fry agreed, he "could not face the prospect of being a refugee, however honourably accompanied". Among their joint works was
Impington Impington is a village and civil parish about 3 miles north of Cambridge city centre, in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It forms part of the Cambridge built-up area. In 2011 the parish had a populati ...
Village College,
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
: Gropius created the original design, and Fry revised it and supervised construction after Gropius's departure. Fry first met pioneering social reformer Elizabeth Denby in 1934, whom he described as "a small dynamic woman", at a party in
Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...
's studio. Denby had a sponsor, Lady Mozelle Sassoon, for the flats – R. E. Sassoon House – they had designed as part of a working-class estate around the
Pioneer Health Centre The Peckham Experiment was an experiment designed to determine whether people as a whole would, given the opportunity, take a vested interest in their own health and fitness and expend effort to maintain it. The experiment took place between 192 ...
in
Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...
, London. As pleasant social housing at minimum cost, Sassoon House became his first collaboration with Denby. He worked again with Denby to create Kensal House, in
Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also the name of the sur ...
, London, on a disused corner of land belonging to the
Gas Light and Coke Company The Gas Light and Coke Company (also known as the Westminster Gas Light and Coke Company, and the Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company), was a company that made and supplied coal gas and Coke (fuel), coke. The headquarters of the company were l ...
between the
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...
and the railway. The project was completed in 1937. Fry opportunistically planned the blocks of flats to curve in front of the site of a disused gasholder which then included a nursery school, and his simple design won the competition for this project. The result was a spacious estate for working-class people with modern shared amenities, which set new standards for its time. Fry admitted in his ''Autobiographical Sketches'' that during their work together his enthusiasm for their work on the project was for some time indistinguishable from his enthusiasm for her, distracted by the "sad inadequacies" of his own marriage: but he broke up the relationship because he admitted "... I failed publicly to acknowledge her and injured us both irreparably." Among Fry's well-known buildings of the 1930s are the Sun House, Frognal Lane,
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...
(1936), and Miramonte in
New Malden New Malden is a suburban area in southwest London, England. It is within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Norb ...
,
Kingston, Surrey Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...
(1937).Miramonte, New Malden, Kingston, Surrey (The Twentieth Century Society)
His obituarist for ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' wrote of this period that "places in Fry's office were much sought after by the eager young men of the profession. Many who later distinguished themselves passed through it and have never forgotten Fry's early influence on them."Obituary, ''The Times'', 5 September 1987, p. 10 From 1937 to 1942, Fry worked as secretary, with
Arthur Korn Arthur Korn (20 May 1870 – 21 December/22 December 1945) was a German physicist, mathematician and inventor. He was involved in the development of the fax machine, specifically the transmission of photographs or telephotography, known as the ...
as chairman, on the governing committee of the MARS group plan for the redevelopment of postwar London, the results of which were outlined in his 1944 work ''Fine Building''.Korn, Arthur, Maxwell Fry and Dennis Sharp
"The M.A.R.S. Plan for London"
''Perspecta'', Vol. 13 (1971), pp. 163–173, accessed 29 April 2011
The plan was described by
Dennis Sharp Dennis Sharp (30 November 1933 – 6 May 2010) was a British architect, professor, curator, historian, author and editor. His obituary in ''The Guardian'' stated that he 'was well-known as an architectural historian, teacher and active defender o ...
, one of Fry's collaborators, as "frankly
Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...
n and Socialistic in concept." In 1939, Fry became a fellow 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 ...
. During the Second World War, he served with the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
, ending the war with the rank of major.


1940s and postwar

In 1942, recently divorced from his first wife, Fry married the architect
Jane Drew Dame Jane Drew (24 March 1911 – 27 July 1996) was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the Architectural Association School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Moder ...
, whom he had met during his work on the MARS plan. She shared Fry's zeal for architectural and social modernisation, and they became professional as well as personal partners, establishing Fry, Drew and Partners, which existed from 1946 to 1973. Their first work together was for the British government in its West African colonies. In 1944, Fry was appointed town planning adviser to
Lord Swinton Earl of Swinton is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1955 for the prominent Conservative politician Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Viscount Swinton. He had already been created Viscount Swinton, of Masham in the Cou ...
, the resident minister of British West Africa; Drew was engaged as Fry's assistant. Their official postings continued until 1946, when Fry and Drew set up in private practice. Although based in London, most of their work for the next few years continued to be in west Africa for the British colonial authorities. The Frys opened an office in Ghana (then known as the Gold Coast) and worked there and in Nigeria, primarily on educational establishments, and often in temporary partnership with other British architects. ''The Times'' considered Fry's most notable work in West Africa to be the
University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...
. In 1951, Fry and Drew joined an ambitious project to plan and create a new city,
Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...
. With the partition of India, the Indian part of
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
needed a new capital. Fry and his wife were responsible for securing Le Corbusier's participation in the project. He had previously declined invitations, but Fry and Drew visited him in Paris and secured his agreement to join them. He took on the designs of the new capital's major governmental and legal buildings and advised on the master plan for the city. Together with
Pierre Jeanneret Pierre Jeanneret (22 March 1896 – 4 December 1967) was a Swiss architect who collaborated with his cousin, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (who assumed the pseudonym Le Corbusier), for about twenty years. Early life Arnold-André-Pierre Jean ...
and a team of local architects, the Frys worked within Le Corbusier's plan to create Chandigarh; they spent three years there, designing housing, a hospital, colleges, a health centre, swimming pools and shops. Both Fry and Drew often collaborated with and were close friends of
Ove Arup Sir Ove Nyquist Arup (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation offering engineering, design, planning, project management, and consultant, consulting services for bu ...
, the founder of the engineering firm Arup. As Fry, Drew and Partners, the pair's major British commission was the headquarters of
Pilkington Glass Pilkington is a glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, England. It includes several legal entities in the UK, and is a subsidiary of Japanese company Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG). It was formerly an independent company ...
in St. Helens, Lancashire. The building includes a number of modernist art commissions with works by
Victor Pasmore Edwin John Victor Pasmore, Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, CH, CBE (3 December 190823 January 1998) was a British artist. He pioneered the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s. Early life Pasmore was bo ...
. Fry and Drew took on a number of younger partners, and the practice eventually grew to a considerable size. However, in the view of ''The Times'''s obituarist, "in these new circumstances his personal talent somehow became submerged, and the work of the firm that bore his name, though of acceptable quality, was not easy to distinguish from the competent modern work done by many other firms. Fry's originality, and his sparkle as a designer, were far less evident than in his pre-war buildings."


Later years

Fry was also a painter, writer and a poet. In the 1950s, he frequented the community of Surrealist artists gathered at the villa of
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
and
Noma Copley Noma Copley (born Norma Rathner, July 31, 1916 – February 22, 2006) was an American fine arts jeweler and art collector noted for her contributions to Surrealist practices and activities. From 1953 through 1968, she was married to William Cop ...
in
Longpont-sur-Orge Longpont-sur-Orge (, literally ''Longpont on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. From 1954 to 1962, the villa in Longpont-sur-Orge owned by William and Noma Copley served as a social hub and a ...
in the outskirts of Paris. Fry and Drew had among their friends contemporary artists such as
Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...
,
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 leadin ...
,
Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...
and
Winifred Nicholson ''From Bedroom Window, Bankshead'', date unknown, private collection ''Costa Brava'', 1953, Government Art Collection Rosa Winifred Nicholson (née Roberts; 21 December 1893 – 5 March 1981) was a British painter. She was married to the pa ...
,
Victor Pasmore Edwin John Victor Pasmore, Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, CH, CBE (3 December 190823 January 1998) was a British artist. He pioneered the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s. Early life Pasmore was bo ...
and
Eduardo Paolozzi Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, ; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art. Early years Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi was born on 7 M ...
; and the author Richard Hughes. Fry was elected
ARA Ara may refer to: Biology * ''Ara'' (bird), a genus of parrots * Ara (fish) (''Niphon spinosus''), a species of fish * L-arabinose operon, also known as ara Places * Ara (mountain), a mountain in Armenia * Ara, Armenia, a village in Armenia ...
in 1966 and advanced to RA in 1972. He exhibited at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
Summer Exhibition, had a one-man show in 1974 at the Drian Gallery in London, and continued painting in his retirement. He served on the council of the Royal Institute of British Architects, of which he was vice-president in 1961–2. He was awarded the institute's Royal Gold Medal in 1964. He also served on the Royal Fine Arts Commission and on the council of the Royal Society of Arts. He was appointed
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in 1955, was elected a corresponding member of the Acádemie Flamande in 1956, and an honorary Fellow of the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...
in 1963. He was an honorary LLD of Ibadan University, and towards the end of his life he became Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy."Fry, E(dwin) Maxwell"
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 30 April 2011
On his retirement in 1973, Fry and his wife moved from London to a cottage in Cotherstone, County Durham, where he died in 1987 at the age of 88.


List of works

*1923–40 many houses and flats including Ridge End at Wentworth, Surrey and Club House at
Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in the Swale district of Kent, southeast England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons. The town stands next to th ...
, Kent *1933–34 R. E. Sassoon House (workers' flats), St. Mary's Road, Peckham, South-East London, Fry's first building in reinforced concrete, in collaboration with Elizabeth DenbyBrenda Martin and Penny Sparke, ''Women's Places: Architecture and Design 1860–1960'', London: Routledge, 2003 – Grade II Listed *1935 Flats on St. Leonard's Hill,
Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...
(with
Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...
) – never built, owing to lack of funding. *1935 The Sun House, 9 Frognal Way, Frognal,
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...
, London – Grade II* Listed *1936 Shop front to 115 Cannon Street,
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
(with
Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...
) – Grade II Listed *1936 Levy House, 66 Old Church Street, Chelsea, London (with Gropius) – Grade II Listed *1936 Little Winch, House at
Chipperfield Chipperfield is a village and civil parish in the Dacorum district of Hertfordshire, England, approximately five miles southwest of Hemel Hempstead and five miles north of Watford. It stands on a chalk plateau at the edge of the Chiltern Hills ...
Common, Hertfordshire – Grade II* Listed *1936 Miramonte, house in Coombe,
New Malden New Malden is a suburban area in southwest London, England. It is within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Norb ...
,
Kingston, Surrey Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...
– Grade II Listed *1937 Kensal House,
Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also the name of the sur ...
, Kensington, London, in collaboration with Elizabeth Denby – Grade II* Listed *1938 Showrooms for Central London Electricity,
Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...
, London *1938 Flats at 65 Ladbroke Grove, London – Grade II Listed *1939
Impington Village College Impington Village College is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Impington in the English county of Cambridgeshire. The buildings of 1938–1939 by Walter Gropius and Maxwell Fry are Grade I listed. The school opened in 1939, tw ...
, Cambridge (with Gropius) – Grade I Listed *1949–60
University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...
, Nigeria *1950 St. Francis College, Ho Hoe, Togoland *1951 Work for the
Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Labour Party cabinet member Herbert Morrison was the prime mover; in 1947 he started with the ...
*1951
Adisadel College Adisadel College, popularly known as "Adisco", is an Anglican boys' boarding school in Cape Coast, Ghana. It was established by Rt. Rev. Nathaniel T Hamlyn in 1910. Adisadel College is one of the oldest Senior high school, secondary schools in ...
, Ghana *1951–54 Housing in
Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...
, India *1951–54
Ramsay Hall This is a list of the halls of residence at University College London in London, England. Ramsay Hall Ramsay Hall is a building located in London used primarily as a hall of residence for students of University College London. History The buildin ...
, London *1952 Passfield House and other flats in
Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...
, south-east London *1953 School at Mawuli, Ghana *1954 School and College at
Aburi Aburi is a town in the Akuapim South Municipal District of the Eastern Region of south Ghana famous for the Aburi Botanical Gardens and the Odwira festival.
, Ghana *1955–58 Design of the Usk Street Housing Estate at
Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...
, London (with
Denys Lasdun Sir Denys Louis Lasdun, CH, CBE, RA (8 September 1914, Kensington, London – 11 January 2001, Fulham, London) was an eminent English architect, the son of Nathan Lasdun (1879–1920) and Julie (''née'' Abrahams; 1884–1963). Probably his b ...
) – Grade II Listed *1956 Co-operative Bank at
Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...
, Nigeria *1958 Teacher Training College in
Wudil Wudil is a Local Government Area in Kano State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Wudil on the A237 highway. It has an area of 362 km and a population of 185,189 at the 2006 census. The postal code A postal code (also kno ...
, Nigeria *1958 Oriental Insurance Building,
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
, India *1959 Schools in
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
, Nigeria *1960
Pilkington Pilkington is a glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, England. It includes several legal entities in the UK, and is a subsidiary of Japanese company Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG). It was formerly an independent company ...
Bros. (Glass), office and social housing, St. Helens, Lancashire *1960 BP office in Lagos, Nigeria *1960 Office building for Dow Agrochemicals Ltd.,
King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...
, Norfolk *1965-7,
Kingston House, Kingston upon Hull Kingston House is a tower block and low rise office development built in Kingston upon Hull, England, in the 1960s in a modernist style. History ''Kingston House'' is a multi storey office development built 1965-7 to the design of Fry, Drew ...
*1970 Crematorium at Coychurch, Mid-GlamorganThe Twentieth Century Society: New Ways of mourning: Coychurch Crematorium (1970)


Bibliography


Books

*(with Thomas Adams, Francis Longstreth Thompson and James W. R. Adams) ''Recent Advances in Town Planning''. London: J. & A. Churchill, 1932. OCLC 4377060 *''Fine Building''. London: Faber & Faber, 1944. OCLC 1984391 *(with Jane Drew) ''Architecture for Children''. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1944. OCLC 559791804 (Republished 1976 as ''Architecture and the Environment'') *(with Jane Drew and Harry L. Ford) ''Village Housing in the Tropics: with special reference to West Africa''. London: Lund Humphries, 1947. OCLC 53579274 * (with Jane Drew) ''Tropical Architecture in the Humid Zone''. London: Batsford, 1956. OCLC 718056727 *(with Jane Drew) ''Tropical Architecture in the Dry and Humid Zones''. London: Batsford, 1964. OCLC 155707318 *''Art in a Machine Age: A Critique of Contemporary Life through the Medium of Architecture.'' London: Methuen, 1969. *''Tapestry and Architecture: An Address Given at the Opening of an Exhibition of Tapestries by Miriam Sacks at the Ben Uri Gallery 22 October 1969.'' London: Keepsake P., 1970. *''Autobiographical Sketches'', London: Elek, 1975. *(with Jane Drew) ''Architecture and the Environment'', London: George Allen and Unwin, 1976. (Republication of 1944 ''Architecture for Children'') *


Articles

* "African experiment – building for an educational programme in the Gold Coast". London: ''The Architectural Review'', No. 677 Vol. CXIII, May 1953, pp. 299–310. OCLC 638313897 *(with Jane Drew) "Chandigarh and Planning Development in India." I. The Plan, by E. Maxwell Fry, II. Housing, by Jane B. Drew. London: ''Journal of the Royal Society of Arts'', No.4948, 1 April 1955, Vol.CIII, pp. 315–333. OCLC 34739832


Notes


References

*Fry, Maxwell (1975). ''Autobiographical Sketches''. London: Elek.


Further reading



*Kiran Joshi, ''Documenting Chandigarh: The Indian Architecture of Pierre Jeanneret, Edwin Maxwell Fry, Jane Beverly Drew'', Grantha Corporation, 1999


External links

*
(Edwin) Maxwell Fry (1899–1978), Architect, painter and writer
– bronze head and photographs * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Maxwell 1899 births 1987 deaths 20th-century English architects 20th-century English writers English urban planners British expatriates in Ghana British expatriates in Nigeria Modernist architects from England Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English painters Royal Academicians