Marcus Whiffen (4 March 1916 - February 2002) was an English journalist, historian, author and photographer specialising in British and American architecture. He was also a Professor Emeritus in the School of Architecture at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

Life and career

Marcus Whiffen was born in

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, near the border with Wales. It had a population estimated at 10,978 in 2021. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the River Wye and on the northern edge of the Fore ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

on 4 March 1916, the son of Thomas Joseph Whiffen and Jessie Anne Hardy. He graduated from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

with a bachelor of Arts in 1937, and completed his Masters in 1946. Following his graduation, he joined ''The Architect and Building News''. After the war, in 1946, he joined the ''Architectural Review'' (London) as an assistant editor. Whiffen moved to the United States in 1952, where he held lecturer positions at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

and then at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. In 1954, he joined

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in Williamsburg, Virginia. Its historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, wh ...

as an architectural historian. He moved to Arizona State University in 1960 where he held various positions–the final as Professor Emeritus. He corresponded extensively with several other leading architectural historians including Sir

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

Henry-Russell Hitchcock Henry-Russell Hitchcock (June 3, 1903 – February 19, 1987) was an American architectural historian, and for many years a professor at Smith College and New York University. His writings helped to define the characteristics of modernist architec ...

and Sir

John Summerson Sir John Newenham Summerson (25 November 1904 – 10 November 1992) was one of the leading British architectural historians of the 20th century. Early life John Summerson was born at Barnstead, Coniscliffe Road, Darlington. His grandfather wo ...

, as well as architects

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 ...

, Paul Schweikher, and Bart Prince. Whiffen served as Director of the

Society of Architectural Historians The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the study and preservation of the built environment worldwide. Based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, the Society's 3,500 members inc ...

(1969-1971, 1975-1978) and Director of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (1963-1968). His awards included the Society of Architectural Historians Annual Book Award for ''The Public Buildings of

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

'' (1958) and the Arizona State University Alumni Association Faculty Achievement Award (1979). Whiffen lived in a house in the Arcadia district of

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

and designed for him in 1963 by architect (and Arizona State University colleague) Calvin C. Straub. He died, aged 85, in Phoenix in February 2002. Photographs by Marcus Whiffen are held at the Conway Library in the

Courtauld Courtauld is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Courtauld Butler or Adam Butler (British politician), DL (1931–2008), British Conservative Party politician and MP *Augustine Courtauld (1904–1959), often called August Cou ...

, London, and are being digitised.

Select bibliography

* ''Stuart and Georgian churches: the Architecture of the Church of England outside London 1603-1837''. Marcus Whiffen. B. T. Batsford, 1948. * ''

Thomas Archer Thomas Archer (1668–1743) was an English Baroque architect. His buildings are important as the only ones by an English Baroque architect to show evidence of study of contemporary continental, namely Italian, architecture. It is said that hi ...

: Architect of the English Baroque''. Marcus Whiffen, Art & Technics, 1950. * ''The Architecture of Sir

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was an English architect best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...

in Manchester and Neighbourhood''. Marcus Whiffen. Manchester, 1950. * ''An Introduction to Elizabethan and Jacobean Architecture''. Marcus Whiffen. Art & Technics, 1952. * ''The Public Buildings of Williamsburg - colonial capital of Virginia - an architectural history''. Marcus Whiffen. Williamsburg, Va. Colonial Williamsburg, 1958. * ''American Architecture, 1607-1976''. Marcus Whiffen. Cambridge: MIT Pr. 1981. * ''The Eighteenth-century houses of Williamsburg - a study of architecture and building in the colonial capital of Virginia''. Marcus Whiffen. Williamsburg, Va. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1983. * ''Pueblo deco: The art deco architecture of the Southwest''. Marcus Whiffen and Carla Breeze. Albuquerque. University of New Mexico Press, c1984. * ''American architecture since 1780: a guide to the styles''. Marcus Whiffen. Cambridge, Mass. London: MIT, 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiffen, Marcus Architectural historians People from Ross-on-Wye 1916 births Arizona State University faculty 2002 deaths People from Phoenix, Arizona