Leslie Martin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | John Leslie Martin (1908-08-17)17 August 1908 Manchester, England |
| Died | 28 July 2000(2000-07-28) (aged 91) |
| Alma mater | Manchester University |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Spouse | Sadie Speight |
| Buildings | Royal Festival Hall, Harvey Court, William Stone Building, Tinbergen Building, Brackenfell, Kettle's Yard extension |
| Projects | Loughborough Estate |
Sir John Leslie Martin (17 August 1908, inManchester[1] – 28 July 2000)[2] was anEnglish architect, and a leading advocate of theInternational Style.[3] Martin's most famous building is theRoyal Festival Hall. His work was especially influenced byAlvar Aalto.
After studying atManchester University, Leslie Martin taught at theUniversity of Hull.[4] In 1937 he co-edited withBen Nicholson andNaum Gabo the journalCircle, which reviewed avant-garde abstract art and architecture.[5] In 1939 Martin and his wife,Sadie Speight, co-wroteThe flat book.[6]
During the Second World War Martin was assigned to the pre-nationalisation Railway companies to supervise re-building of bomb-damaged regional rail stations.[7]
In this capacity Martin developed pre-fabricated designs to speed construction. Following the war he was made a Deputy Architect to theLondon County Council (LCC), and in 1948Hugh Casson selected him to lead the design team for theRoyal Festival Hall, the most prestigious building project of theFestival of Britain. Partly in recognition of his achievement, Martin was made Chief Architect of the LCC in 1953; he used his position to promote emerging younger architectsColin St. John Wilson,James Stirling, andAlison and Peter Smithson.[citation needed]
From 1956, he was made head of theArchitecture School atCambridge University where Colin St John Wilson was his assistant.[8] He wasSlade Professor of Fine Art at theUniversity of Oxford for 1965–66.[9]
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Martin was involved initially with Patrick Hodgkinson in theBrunswick Centre, an early experiment in planned mixed-use development inBloomsbury that was partially completed. The 1950s also saw the creation of the Loughborough Estate inBrixton, south London, designed by Martin.
In the 1960s the British government commissioned Martin to draw plans for a wholesale demolition and redevelopment of the area betweenSt James's Park and theThames Embankment in London. It would have involved the demolition of most of the Victorian and Edwardian government offices (the Foreign Office, the Commonwealth Office, the old Home Office, etc.) inWhitehall, which were then scheduled for demolition, and left theBanqueting Hall as a traffic island and the original Scotland Yard building enveloped in the middle of a courtyard of offices.
The plans met with determined opposition from the public and conservation groups, especially theVictorian Society, and their implementation was delayed.Edward Heath's government eventually formally abandoned Martin's plan in 1971. The existing buildings were subsequently restored and opened to the public.
Taking a broader view of Martin's work, a picture emerges of the man as a quiet achieverpar excellence. Through his skilled networking in support of promising younger architects, and his self-effacing work on committees, he strongly influenced the course of post-war British architecture. "He was efficient, cooperative, impeccably well networked and calmly authoritative, justifying his advice with his immense architectural expertise and his scientific investigations of planning needs."[10]
Martin with Wilson completed a number of academic buildings including halls of residence Harvey Court forGonville and Caius College, one of the most important examples of brickbrutalism, and theWilliam Stone Building forPeterhouse; and theTinbergen Building and the St. Cross faculty libraries forOxford University. Martin was also the masterplanner forLeicester University.
One of his later projects was an extension toKettle's Yard Art Gallery to house the works of DameBarbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, and others.
Martin and his wife, Sadie Speight, were responsible for the modernist house Brackenfell (Grade II listed) inBrampton,Cumbria. Designed in 1936 and completed in 1938 for textile designer and artist Alastair Morton, of Edinburgh Weavers. The interior colour scheme was reputedly designed by Ben Nicholson who lived locally when married toWinifred Roberts. Brackenfell is still a private house.[11]
Martin wasknighted byQueen Elizabeth II in the1957 Birthday Honours.[12]
