For immediate release 20/07/07 Sir Basil Spence The centenary celebration of the birth one of Britain's greatest twentieth century architects. This August marks the centenary of the birth of one of Britain's most successful architects of the last century, Sir Basil Spence (1907-1976). To mark the occasion The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), based in Edinburgh, will be launching The Sir Basil Spence Archive, the culmination of a major project over the last few years, involving a team of over 11 experts at RCAHMS, to preserve a unique archive of his work and personal documents. Sir Basil Spence is one of the UK's most celebrated twentieth-century architects. He is most famously associated with his radical designs for the new Coventry Cathedral following the partial destruction of the old Cathedral by bombing during World War II, a project for which he received a knighthood in 1960. Renowned for his attention to detail, he was involved in a varied range of high-profile architectural projects, including the University of Sussex; Hyde Park Cavalry Barracks, London; the British Embassy, Rome; and the extension of the New Zealand Parliament buildings. In 2003, 40,000 items were gifted by the Spence family to RCAHMS, comprising drawings, files, photographs, models and documents charting his career, as well as a wealth of personal papers and letters, all of which have never been accessible in its entirety until now. This unique archive will be made available to the public for the first time in August by RCAHMS, in partnership with the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and The Lighthouse, Scotland's National Centre for Architecture, Design and the City. It starts with a touring micro-exhibition, commencing at Spence's most celebrated building, Coventry Cathedral. The micro-exhibition is a fascinating combination of content from the Spence Archive and material that is the result of a series of interpretation workshops. These were run Cont'd... throughout 2006 by RCAHMS and The Lighthouse at twelve venues across the country, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Coventry and London. As well as primary and secondary school pupils, community groups and those who had lived and worked in Spence buildings were asked about their engagement with the Spence creations as well as the archive generally. Themes included past and present, housing and school design, and new design in historic places. Their responses resulted in digital art, film making, and sculpture all of which will be represented in the micro exhibition. To coincide with the touring micro-exhibition, a website will be launched, www.basilspence.org.uk, featuring the different areas of the architect's work with sections dedicated to his designs - living, work, learning, worship - and further sections on outreach, education and memory sharing. Also included are contemporary responses in which a range of contemporary artists, architects, designers and commentators share their thoughts on Spence's work and achievements through writings, videos and podcasts. In addition, this autumn will see a major exhibition of the Archive at the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh (19 October 2007-11 February 2008), showcasing some of the major aspects of the Archive. This fitting celebration of the centenary of Spence's birth will be the first time that the National Galleries of Scotland has devoted an exhibition to the work of a single modern architect. Rebecca Bailey, Head of Education and Outreach at RCAHMS said: 'This has been an important project for RCAHMS and we are now delighted that the Spence Archive is to be made available to all. It has brought together, as Spence himself did, a number of diverse partnerships, groups and cities. The website and touring micro-exhibition allow an examination and celebration of the notions of architecture and design, bringing them into the public and popular domain, in the same way that Spence attempted with his works. As well, and justly so, Sir Basil Spence himself is revisited and reassessed in the centenary year of his birth." For more information, please contact Helen Loughlin at Colman Getty T: 0131 558 8851 / helenloughlin@colmangetty.co.uk Out of hours: 07784 319 868 Notes to Editors 1. The Sir Basil Spence Touring Micro-exhibition Schedule: * Coventry Cathedral, Coventry: 4 August-1 September, 9am-5pm daily * Swiss Cottage Library, London: 8 September-6 October, Mon 10am-7pm, Tue-Wed and Fri 10am-6pm, Thu 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-5pm * Omni Centre Greenside Place, Edinburgh: 13 October-27 October, 9am-7pm daily * Swanson Gallery, Thurso: 22 November-8 December, Mon-Wed 1-5pm, Fri 1-8pm, Sat 10am-1pm * Glasgow Airport, Paisley: 15 December-5 January, 9am-6pm daily * Gorbals Library, Glasgow: 12 January-10 February, Mon-Fri, 9am-9pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 12noon-5pm 2. The Sir Basil Spence Archive project was made possible thanks to over £1million combined funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Scottish Executive. 3. Conservation work concentrated on the re-housing of business records as well as preventive treatments such as tear repairs and mould removal on working drawings. Cataloguing work has largely focused upon manuscript material relating to Coventry Cathedral that will offer the researcher new insights into the building process; Spence's relationship with the patrons that commissioned it; the trials and tribulations of working with vast numbers of prolific engineers, artists and craftsmen; and contemporary press cuttings indicating how the building was perceived by the press. 4. The archive perfectly complements other Spence-related material held at RCAHMS, including the 14,400 drawings and photographs from Spence's Scottish office that form the Spence Glover & Ferguson Collection, catalogued in 2000 as part of the HLF-funded Scottish Architects' Papers Preservation Project. 5. Conservation experts at RCAHMS involved in the archive project as well as Anthony Blee, Basil Spence's son-in-law and business partner, are available for interview via Colman Getty. Tel: 0131 558 8851 Cont'd... 6. Logos and images from the archive are available from Colman Getty. Tel: 0131 558 8851 7. For information about the exhibition at the Dean Gallery please contact Michael Gormley, Acting Head of Press, National Galleries of Scotland, on 0131 624 6325 or mgormley@nationalgalleries.org.uk. 8. For further information on The Lighthouse, Scotland's National Centre for Architecture, Design and the City, please contact Lesley Booth, New Century PR, 07799 414 474 / Lesley@newcenturypr.com. 9. Further information about The Sir Basil Spence Archive will be available from the 4 August at www.basilspence.org.uk. For more information, please contact Helen Loughlin at Colman Getty T: 0131 558 8851 helenloughlin@colmangetty.co.uk Out of hours: 07784 319 868 - ends - Colman Getty July 2007 ?? ?? ?? ?? Page 4 of 4