Our Man Who Created London
Today is the birthday of one of Lovelock Mitchell’s former partners, Sir Patrick Abercrombie. Architect, planner, and world-famous urban designer, he is known as “the man who created London”
New towns, the M25 orbital motorway, airports Heathrow and Gatwick and the greenbelt of protected countryside which surrounds the city – all were set out by Abercrombie.
Patrick’s work had a profound influence on 20th century Modernism and the design of cities globally. He was awarded the highest architectural honours in both America and the UK – the AIA Gold Medal and RIBA Royal Gold Medal respectively, something only achieved by a select few names including Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Gehry, Richard Rogers, and Norman Foster.
Happy Birthday Patrick!
Among his many accolades:
RIBA Royal Gold Medal – Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
Gold Medal – The American Institute of Architects (AIA)
Lever Professor of Civic Design University of Liverpool
Professor of Town Planning UCL
Co-Founder, Royal Town Planning Institute
Co-Founder, The Council for the Preservation of Rural England
Council Member, Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA)
First President of UIA – International Union of Architects
Abercrombie Building named in tribute Oxford Brookes University