NUTTGENS, Patrick 1930-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born March 2, 1930, in Whiteleaf, Buckinghamshire, England; died March 15, 2004, in York, England. Architect, educator, and author. Nuttgens was best known as the former architecture professor and director of the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies at York University, as well as the director of Leeds Polytechnic. His diploma in architecture was from the Edinburgh College of Art; he then became the first graduate in architecture at the University of Edinburgh, where he earned a master's in 1954 and a Ph.D. in 1959. Nuttgens remained in Edinburgh to lecture in architecture until 1962, when he joined the York University faculty as a reader and director of the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, later becoming a professor of architecture in 1968. Under his leadership, the institute became famous for its hands-on approach to learning in which students were first thrown into work to solve real-life architectural problems and only after this experience taught the basic principals involved. Nuttgens called this his "learning by doing" approach. In 1969, he left York for Leeds Polytechnic, where he served as director until 1986. After retiring, Nuttgens spent the rest of his days back at York University as an honorary professor. In addition to his work as a teacher, Nuttgens became a familiar face on British television sets as the host of various BBC programs about historic and modern architecture, such as Spirit of the Age (1975), Edwin Lutyens: Last Architect of the Age of Humanism (1981), and The Home Front: Housing the People, 1840-1990 (1989), which was adapted as a book of the same title in 1989. Named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1982, he was the author of several other books, including The Story of Architecture (1983) and Understanding Modern Architecture (1988).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Daily Telegraph (London, England), April 5, 2004.

Guardian (Manchester, England), March 17, 2004, p. 25.

Independent (London, England), April 10, 2004, p. 44.

Times (London, England), March 29, 2004, p. 27.