Three volumes of drawings undertaken as a student added to alumni holdings in the GSA’s Archives and Collections
Three volumes of drawings by the eminent architect and former President of the Royal Scottish Academy, Sir Anthony Wheeler (1919 – 2013), have been donated to The Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections by his family. Undertaken whilst a student at the GSA in the late 1940s the volumes cover a range of subjects.
Volume 1 – The Fair City: A review of 18th and 19th architecture of Perth and District dates from 1948 and is work which contributed to his winning of the RIAS Rowand Anderson Silver Medal (an award which the RIAS continues to present to the best 5th year student to this day).
It features photographs and drawings of buildings of note, giving an early insight into his understanding of historic architecture which was later demonstrated in his work with partner Frank Sproson. Their practice was active in imaginative restorations under the National Trust’s Little Houses scheme (launched in 1960) and won many awards from the Saltire Society in the 1960s and 70s for their work on historic houses.
Volume 2: Contemporary Church Design. This sketchbook features drawings of churches from across Europe and North Africa including The Hogalid Church, Stockholm, Sweden, Le Raincy Church, Paris, France, Guildford Cathedral, England, UK and The Church of Port Lyautey, Morocco This understanding of church architecture was to be translated into what is perhaps Wheeler’s major achievement, the modernist St Columba’s Parish Church, Glenrothes.
Volume 3, which is signed and dated October 1949, is a detailed study of cantilevers featuring drawings of some of the most celebrated examples of the form including the Forth Bridge, London underground Central Line stations and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water which had been completed only 12 years earlier.
The books were donated by Anthony Wheeler’s daughter, Pamela Wheeler. Making the donation she said:
“I am pleased to donate these three volumes of drawings to GSA as my father was very proud of being a student there.
“I have been impressed with the wide range of archives available at GSA and my father would have been thrilled to know that a broad range of students could have the opportunity to access his work for many years to come.”
“We are delighted to have received these three volumes of drawings which complement Wheeler’s beautifully illustrated John Keppie scholarship report that we already hold in our collections,” says Susannah Waters, Archives & Collections Manager.
“We’re committed to collecting examples of student work, past and present, in order to capture the range of creative processes and individual experiences of studying at GSA. Our aim is for our collections to engage, inform and inspire new audiences and new work.”
SIR ANTHONY WHEELER
Sir Anthony Wheeler studied at the GSA from 1937 to 1948 (his time was interrupted by 6 years of war service). While at the GSA he was awarded many prizes including the RIBA Grissell Gold Medal and Neale Bursary, the GSA Bellahouston Travelling Scholarship, the RIAS Sir Rowand Anderson Studentship Silver Medal, the Glasgow Institute of Architects Drawing Prize and the John Keppie Travelling Scholarship.
In the 1950s he became Assistant City Architect in Oxford and also worked for a leading firm of London architects before returning to Scotland to take up the post of chief assistant to the Glenrothes Development Corporation.
Following this Wheeler established an architectural practice in Kirkcaldy (1952) being joined by Frank Sproson two years later. Wheeler and Sproson was involved in the restoration and preservation of many of the historic villages in Fife including the work carried out in 1962 on The Gyles in Pittenweem.
A pioneer of Modernism, Wheeler’s designs include the student union building in St Mary’s Place, St Andrews and St Columba’s Parish Church, Glenrothes. Other commissions included the Hunter Building at Edinburgh College of Art, the married naval quarters at Rosyth, Faslane and Elgin, staff housing at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital, and the Tourist Centre at Stranraer, the town of his birth.
Wheeler was a talented draughtsman and artist all his life remaining an active exhibiting artist with the Scottish Society of Architect Artists until his death in 2013.
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For further information contact
Lesley Booth,
0779 941 4474,