Hugh Casson

Hugh Casson St John's College Oxford watercolour

c.1988

Sir Hugh Casson was educated at Eastbourne College, St John’s College Cambridge and the Bartlett School of Architecture. He was trained in the 1930s in the early modernist style, and also taught at the Cambridge School of Architecture. After employment as a camoufleur during World War II by the Air Ministry, in 1948 he was appointed as director of architecture for the Festival of Britain. A close friend of the Royal Family, Casson undertook designs for the 1953 coronation, designed the interior of the Royal Yacht Britannia, and taught the Prince of Wales to paint in watercolors. Amongst his architectural achievements are the Elephant House at London Zoo, the 1978 redevelopment of Bristol Docks, the Raised Faculty Building for the University of Cambridge and a building for the Royal College of Art. Casson published several illustrated books, of which Casson’s Oxford and Casson’s Cambridge are probably the best known. A limited-edition series of prints were produced from the paintings.