(FGHIJ) saw through Look out, the Raffia about! Belty CoU!no, rLondon~ ~tudy dreas from galleries. This, in turn, means look at in a dentist's waiting room, destgn at the St Martins School of that there is far too small a market instead of endless magazines. making our chil­ Margaret Bialokoz Smith sewing (above). Art. . for the professional artist. 'We are buay She wears a dress which, like many of her To_ earn extra money_ while she '1 would like to earn my living dren aware of art in echools, but studted, . Margaret destgned and doing what I am good at, what I've then it stops dead. Some of them own and her family's clothes, she dyed and made skirts for a wholesaler: ,t been trained to do _ like moet may never see an original painting made herself. Below, Margaret works on was ~eal s~e.ated laboll;'"; I ~d ':? other people, doctors, carpenters, again. The boom in reproduction is some batik, a method of design using bot get hve shilhnga for a _h~ed skirt. engineers. But the majority of pr~ all very well, but we shouldn't go on wax to mask areas of cloth. Giving someone When she had ftruShed her fessional artists have to earn their living off the past. If new artiste a present in her family, says Margaret, course, she went~ teach in Bristol, living by teaching or in some job have no stimulus to work, there means putting time and effort into making and met_ her ftr8t huaband, Or Unrelated to art, and practise their will be no heritage for us to paaa it, not buying one. George Bt~okoz, !" fell_ow-Pole and real skills in their spare time. 1"hi.a on." a lecturer m en~rmg . . . is wrong for them, and for everyone It's typical of Margaret Smith He ha~ been m the Pohsh au- else. Art should be part of our that, instead of talking about her­ force ~urm~ tl_le war, and had set-. everyday life. We should see it in self, she should talk about the prob­ tled m Bntam. ~ey mo~ to shops, public buildings, hospita.Js, lems of all artists. But her own Oxford, and she fell m love wtth the waiting rooms, in the street."" work is eminently worth talking place. 1'1le colours and textures of Margaret tells me that in France about. She is an expert in tie­ s~ne_ buildings are endle~ly ~as- Germany, Canada and Scandina~ dyeing and batik; she designs and cmating to her, and have Ul8pired _ it is customary for one to two per makes most of her own clothes, some of her best work. cent of the oost of any new public often using fabrics dyed by herself. In Oxford, she brought up her building to be spent on the work of She makes wall hangings in batik - the process whereby hot wax is used to mask certain areas of the fabric during dyeing to produce the design. But painting is still her first love, though even for this she constantly experiments. She is planning for an exhibition in the autumn, and will certainly be showing some pictures where she has combined wool strands to outline the figures with oil paint. In a canvas called Ritual Fire Dance, the figures are

r~ason for this di;.;nchan•un;on1 Outside Wolfson College yesterday: (from left) is that a rchit~ctur~ is the most accurate mirror you can find Sir Philip Powell, Sir Hugh Casson and Mr of the values of the society for Hidalgo Moya - Sir Philip's partner in Powell which it is built."' he said. and Moya. "Deep down we di~like and fear the values of our society and w~ vent our despair and hatred upon th~ buildings that express them. He pr~s~nted the RIBA Why the public awards to Sir Philip Powell, of Pow~ll and Moya, the Lon­ don-bas~d architects of the college : Sir HeTVy Fisher. Pr~sident of Wolhon: and Mr John Watts, representing the Or Alice Constance Owen.s who don't like us builders, Shepherd Construc­ has died at Prescot, Lanes, aged tion Ltd. 70, was a pioneer of occupational ~jl~8:f..a~~ th;,i~~rl~/~izab~~g Well built Casson to open Dorset House. Bristol, the first occupational architect therapy school in England. She Wolfson Coll~ge was later moved to Chester mental scribed by Sir Hugh as having hospital where she opened an PUBLIC DISCONTENT with architects has never "a marvellous ly robust direct­ occupational therapy de.Plonsb'a­ been so vocal or so constant, Sir Hugh Casson, ness of expression scal~d to tion department. human n~eds and touched oc­ She was chairman of the chairman of the Royal Institute of British Ar­ casionally by that fantasy and 0 chitects' awards committee, told guests at a Wolf­ magic that makes all the dif­ ~h~~i~i~n from fl935 ~~&:'~~~"n~ son College ceremony in Oxford yesterday. fercna. a founder member of the associa· "It is beautifully sited and tion. Later she became secretary He was presenting RIBA president of Wolfson, Sir of the World Ft'deration of Occu· splendidly built" he said. pational Therapists, and repre­ award!> to those concerned in Isaiah Berlin- Sir Henry said Sir Hugh welcomed the in­ the building of Wolfson in the college's success lay in its sented the profession on the cr~ase in new university build­ World Health Organisation. Unton Road. the largest resi- combination of an academic ings. "I would like to get rid dential college for graduates in community and human She received her doctorate for rela­ once and for all of that ludicr­ research in the psychological field, the country, which was offi- tion'i enjoyed in 3 relaxed and ous, sentimental idea that be­ and a""'isted the Medical Research dally o~~d in November friendly atmosphere. cause on~ Council on ma.nv research pro­ last is a student one year "If Wolfson turns out to be must be an eliti-$t and live in Jects. She was appointed an MBE Sir Hugh said that to the: the tD 1959. last college built in Oxford an old building." public. as non-archilects, it is a fining cu1mination to six Addressing the guests -in- those who put up bwldings c~nturi~s of magnificent ar­ cluding the first and impossi- chit~ctur~," he said. LOOKING BACK An exhibition now showing at the Royal College of Art commemorates Sir H ugh Casson's 22 years as head of the Department of Interior (now Environmental) Design. Sir Hugh talks to Peter Murray

dent ratio of about 1/7, and INTERIOR Design as wt. have always kept to pan­ a discipline did not time teaching." Other major changes include exist in Britain until the broadening of interests of Sir Hugh Casson set up the students, and the fact that students coming to the college the School of Interior arc better read, better educattd Design at the Royal and more self sufficient. As its name suggests, the College of Art in 1952. are" of study of the School of Environmmtal Design is much After 23 years, Sir Hugh wider than mere interior de­ is rt.riring. He hands over Sign, and although it does nor his chair in July to John produce architeeu as such, it Miller - of Arcllitects fillt a very real gap in an:hi­ te<:tural education of this coun­ Colquhoun and Miller. To try commemorate his retire­ "Afler the Oxford Confer­ ment, the students of his years", be says, " is the loosen­ ence on anhiteetural education" ing of structured courses. When says Sir Hugh, ''it was decidtd department, now called the 1 first came here, Wednesday School of Environmental that an:hitecture should bt a was '3 half day, when ptople university level exercise with Design, arc organising an were supposed to play football strong mathtmatical and physi­ e:rhibition of the: work of -it was just like school! cai science content. Thio;: " Courses were wriuen out past students. resulted in a rather 0\'er-irnper­ and consisted of a series of sonal, over-scientific attitude. of Tht txhibition has a period exercises and a programme which wouldn't have matte~d title, Loolt Back b1. However, lectures. Gradually, this began it it didn't mean that it kept Sb Hugh doe! not look back f('> disintegrate under student n lot of non-mathematicians in anger, but more with opti· pressure-throughout the uni­ out of architecture. versity world. Ltctures ~came mism and cncourag«nmt at the "I wouldn't have bttn able sorl of safety net for those tion has gone into architect~' sack anybody". They are work­ c:hange.s during his period of denigrated as a way of dis­ people who provide a sense of offices working on interior de­ ing on the competition-winning seminating knowledge. to become an architect now, richness and drama to the en- ~ign." scheme for the Civic Hall at office. "Here, we have always stuck because I would never have got through that net. vironmtnt. All those things After hi ~ retirement, S1r Derby, on the Head Office for very closely to the tutorial sys­ that architects tend to despise Hugh will be able to devote Smiths in Fetter Lane and on t~. We have a good statf/stu- " I regard this college as a these days as not coming out more time: to his pracLicc: . He the Educational Centre at of the computer programme." i-1 a great believer in tellchen London Zoo. Or, as Lord Esher put.s it, being able to practise what Other work includes plan­ ptoplc who "have leavened the they preach, and in fact, most ning consultancy. Sir Hugh lump of contemporary archi- of the teaching in the school is was appointed as consultant to lecture with an immediately dont: by pan-time tuton, for Bath by Sir Donald Gibson, recognisable element of indivi- the most part practisinrc archi- and remained there until Roy dual flair and humane imagina- tects. How does Sir Hugh man- Worsken took over. lion." age hio; variou" job~ ? Drit tol is another, and Nevertheless, there have betn "My teachmg and other tougher, job. "Bristol is much moves for many ytar, to crtate aspects of college life take up more political. There are great b Depanmmt of Architecture just two days a week, my prac- long gaps in appointmentS, in the RCA. Was Sir Hugh tice two days a week and my disappointed that he did not non·paid work - Fine Art have his own fully Hedged Commission, RIBA Council, school of arc:hitecrurc? Royal Mint Advisory Commit- "No, l'm quite happy about tc~.: ~ Council of the National it I was never all that keen Trust-takes up the rcsc . on the idea. I wanted to catch "These committets tmd to lt'8io pcop~ with much accumulate. The nurnbu· one in~r't'Sts ,bu Ofl~ . dgu. is ~~M W..)l- &rt: ~ ...... i - - luL ... "fQct, - -·- lt:odscapc t.iWn&,.;<::.16oi~a.Jeo.J...Ab• QQ commfuMt. £v•ry- body thinks that you gain, but you arc specifically forbidden tc:- do work for the institutions bt. that he w1ll want to do more yol· advise. architecture. He is bri~ging in "Anybody who is on the Km ~rampton as se~1or tutor • Fine An Commission loses who 1s a ~on . drawmg '?Card thousands of pounds wonh of man and ':"'11 gtv~ useful mtel- work. Often, we say to ~omt­ long periods when there i~ lecrual Wttght whtch the school body with some awful scheme nobody there to take any de­ hasn't had from me because 'You'd better have a consul- cisions. They have had a tough l'm essentially a non-theorist tant, and they ask 'Who?' and time. They were the first people Even so, many students from you say 'Anybody but those m to rebuild their city, and they this room'." did it wrong. Everybody came Having a knighthood-which to Bristol to see how 1101 to do Sirr ~ugh received for his il They had this big road pro­ Festival of Britain work - i s gramme, then everybody started not always an advantage. "1 wondering if roads were the got my knighthood very young right .solution, so they got it - I was 40 - and everybody half built, and now they are thought I was a tiny bit grand. hanging around for transport But the office was still doing studies.'' attic conversions for Uncle But Casson accepts such George, and people used to vicissitudes philisophically. He think 'I can' t ask him.' So I believes that there arc cer­ dici have a bit of trouble at tain problems that just don't first. have solutions, "and one "I remember George Brown mustn't fret that they don't," was very sw«t when the Festi­ he says. val job came to an end. He "In Moscow for in stance, was Minister of Works at the which is a lovely clean city time, and he rang me up and with few motor cars, it's per­ said •If you are on your uppers fectly easy to solve the prob­ the school move imo architect­ let me know because the Min­ lems if you say thar nobody style jobs when they leave. "We istry could pass some wori<. can have a motor car. But did a .survey which showed that your way'. you've only solved that prob~ P num~r have gone off on "He said be knew what it !cm by creating another one of their own, staning small de~ign was like when you've just lefr restricting people's freedom." ~tudios. r Government jo~which of Undaunted by thtle urban "They don't actually build course directing the FcHival of conundrums, Sir Hugh looks buildings, but they have done Britain was." forward in an optimistic mood. ar awful lot of conversions. Casson, Conder & Parmers' "Architects hot.•c to be optimis­ One of our students did about practice work is holding up tic. It's such a bloody awful 20 large cinemas, dividing well despite the economic situ­ slow game getting a buildins them into four ~ maller one.~ ation. The office employ!t up. Unless you are spurred on Others have gone into BBC around 30 staff and at the by enormous natural optimi~m. TV design, rome into theatre moment they have enough I don't think you would sur­ design, bur the highest propor- work, "so we won't have to vive. Do you?" L

Hu~h. 20th architect to hold the posi­ sincc Sir Albert Richardson 1954-56, succeeds the late Sir .M.onni.ogt.on. He received 37 votes, more than twice as m_anv as his other rivals combined, who collectively h~~=d l:~JJdhc7 3Sir be:ir~vde!~~ Gibberd. 68. the architect and Mr Frcderick Gore, 62, He~d of Painting at the St Marlin School of Art, London. First ballot victory The new president was elected on the first ballot-the first time this has happened in living memory. He was Director of Architec­ ture for the Festival of Britain in 1951 and is well-known to ~~~at~~~c d~i~~g~VO~~- xc~~~: I ber of tbe A11S Council he ic; also a trustee of the nritish Sir Hugh Casson is netv Museum. He said arterwards hr felt honoured and humble at being chosen and said there were lots of " absolutely smashing " things President of R.A. on the way. /~ 2.16 Questioned about the Tat e CASSON, 65, the architect and former IR HUGH 1 Gallery and its controver.s.ial pile Professor of Environmental Design at the Royal of bricks sculptu1 e Sir. 11u$'h S said the Tale was dealing m College of Art, was elected President of the Royal ·• frontier country " and areas Academy by his fellow of taste which were not yet established. academicians in Its directors and trustees yesterday. could not risk missing anythinl{ but they might buy a dud. Even body was dealin~ with sub­ jcclive judgments. The Tale storeroom was full of pieces of sculpture and pictures tempo­ rarily out of favour...... ~ ~ 7~ ~ ~ 'f. 't~ vvr i;\A·~- n...