Person    | Male  Born 2/11/1863  Died 29/6/1940

Sir Raymond Unwin

Categories: Architecture, Property

Countries: USA

Born Whiston, near Rotherham. Architect & town planner. With his partner Barry Parker he designed Letchworth Garden City in 1903 and Hampstead Garden Suburb in 1907. Died in Connecticut, where he was visiting professor of town planning at Columbia University.

2022: The Guardian told a nice story about Unwin and Parker: "British domestic architecture has also been shaped by idiosyncratic rules that contribute to its poor environmental credentials. For instance, in many parts of the UK, homes that face each other at the rear are required to be built 21 metres apart. This large distance means that instead of clustering buildings together around cool courtyards or shady streets, as is common in hotter climates, many homes in new neighbourhoods are directly exposed to the sun. The 21-metre rule is, according to the Stirling prize-winning architect Annalie Riches, a bizarre hangover from 1902, originally intended to protect the modesty of Edwardian women. The urban designers Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker walked apart in a field until they could no longer see each other’s nipples through their shirts. The two men measured the distance between them to be 70ft (21 metres), and this became the distance that is still used today, 120 years later, to dictate how far apart many British homes should be built."

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir Raymond Unwin

Commemorated ati

Sir Raymond Unwin - blue

The original designer of Hampstead Garden Suburb, Sir Raymond Unwin, architec...

Read More

Sir Raymond Unwin - purple

The original designer of Hampstead Garden Suburb, Sir Raymond Unwin, architec...

Read More

Other Subjects

W. G. R. Sprague

W. G. R. Sprague

Born in Australia the son of an actress.  Worked for Matcham for a time.  Designed many famous London theatres, including the Notting Hill Gate Coronet (1898), Wyndhams (1899), the Albery (1903) an...

Person, Architecture, Australia, New Zealand

3 memorials
Benjamin Wyatt

Benjamin Wyatt

Baptized at St Marylebone. Designed the Drury Lane Theatre. Died, unmarried, in Stanhope Street, York Place, Regent's Park, leaving everything to his long-time servant, Martha.

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Philip Tilden

Philip Tilden

Architect. In the Wikipedia list of his works none are in London.

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
John Hardwick-Smith
1 memorial
Shuffrey, Leonard

Shuffrey, Leonard

Architect and architectural designer. His output is often found in decorative schemes with William Morris, Edward Ould, William De Morgan, and other preeminent Arts & Crafts and late Pre-Raphae...

Person, Architecture

1 memorial