David Theodore Fyfe (3 November 1875 – 1 January 1945), known simply as Theodore Fyfe, was a Scottish architect. He is widely known as

Arthur Evans Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. The first excavations at the Minoan palace of Knossos on the List of islands of Greece, Gree ...

’s architect during the first five excavations at the Palace of Knossos from 1900 to 1904.

Biography

Theodore Fyfe was born on 3 November 1875 in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, second son of James Sloan Fyfe and Jane Charlotte Abercrombie Fyfe. After the deaths of his parents, Fyfe was brought up by his aunt Jane Sloan Fyfe, and uncle John Alexander Fyfe, in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He was educated at

The Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldes ...

. In 1890, he became an apprentice of the architect

John James Burnet Sir John James Burnet (31 May 1857 – 2 July 1938) was a Scotland, Scottish Edwardian architecture, Edwardian architect who was noted for a number of prominent buildings in Glasgow and London. He was the son of the architect John Burnet (arch ...

, then Burnet's assistant after completing his apprenticeship. He took classes at the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

where he was awarded the Haldane Bursary in 1894. He moved to London in 1897 and studied at the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, academic conference, symposia and publications. Histo ...

, then at the

British School at Athens The British School at Athens (BSA; ) is an institute for advanced research, one of the eight British International Research Institutes supported by the British Academy, that promotes the study of Greece in all its aspects. Under UK law it is a reg ...

. In 1899–1900 he travelled in the Mediterranean region studying

classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

. During this period, he joined

’s team as an architect for the excavations at

Knossos Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...

. On 23 March 1900, the team broke ground at the site of Knossos. Fyfe made a fresco copy of the room of the stone bench. In August, he went back to British School. Later he made a study tour in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, and a further study tour in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

. Fyfe returned to

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

with Evans. In 1902, he described the principles of restoration of the

Palace of Minos Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...

. Much of his time in 1903 was spent for the reconstruction of Knossos. He worked on both the graphic reconstruction of the rooms and their preservation. The

Throne Room A throne room or throne hall is the room, often rather a hall, in the official residence of the crown, either a palace or a fortified castle, where the throne of a senior figure (usually a monarch) is set up with elaborate pomp—usually raised, ...

, particularly prestigious, underwent several reconstructions before the one done in 1930 in the antique style. From 1904 onwards, Fyfe was working mainly for

at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. He was responsible for the designs of the Shaftesbury Institute, hall and classrooms at Charlotte Mason College in

Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...

, Memorial Chapel at

Ashton Hayes Ashton Hayes is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ashton Hayes and Horton-cum-Peel, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located about 8 miles east of Che ...

and built houses 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 ...

and elsewhere. In 1919, he was appointed architect to the

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

of Chester Cathedral, in 1921, he was lecturer in classical archaeology at Cambridge. From 1922 to 1936, he was Director of the

Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge The Department of Architecture is part of thFaculty of Architecture and History of Artin the University of Cambridge. Both Departments are housed in Scroope Terrace on Trumpington Street, Cambridge. The department is currently led by Flora Sa ...

. He revisited Knossos in 1926 and then directed the excavations of a mediaeval church at

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

. He started to travel to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria and Egypt in 1932, to study ancient architectural remains. The results of studies are presented in his book ''Hellenistic Architecture: An Introductory Study'', published in 1936. He died in a skating accident in 1945.

Publications

* ''Hellenistic Architecture: An Introductory Study'', Read Books, 2007 (originally published in 1936 by Ares Publishers) * ''Architecture in Cambridge: Examples of Architectural Styles from Saxon to Modern Times'', Cambridge University Press, 2009 (originally published in 1942)

Bibliography

* Peter Soar, ''Theodore Fyfe'', self-published author, 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fyfe, Theodore 1875 births 1945 deaths 19th-century Scottish architects 20th-century Scottish architects Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art People educated at the Glasgow Academy