Hugh Casson

1910 - 1999

Casson was born in London and educated at Eastbourne College and St John's College, Cambridge before studying at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. Before World War II he taught at the Cambridge School of Architecture and concurrently worked in London for the architect Kit Nicholson. After the war he worked in partnership with Neville Conder, their projects including the Elephant House at London Zoo, a building for the Royal College of Art and the Sidgwick Avenue art faculty buildings for the University of Cambridge. A keen promoter of modern architecture, he was appointed director of architecture for the Festival of Britain in 1948. He was knighted for his Festival achievements in 1952. He ran the school of Interior Design a the Royal College of Art, during which time he designed interiors for the Royal Yacht Britannia, for Buckingham Palace, Balmoral and Windsor Castle. In the 1980s Casson became a television presenter, with his own popular series, Personal Pleasures with Sir Hugh Casson. He was also a highly accomplished watercolourist and illustrator, most notably supplying the illustrations for the 1960 edition of Sir John Betjeman's Summoned by Bells. Casson was President of the Royal Academy, 1976-1984 and his archives are now housed in the Victoria