February 25 2022

The Glasgow School of Art has been gifted three volumes of drawings by the family of the late architect and Royal Scottish Academy president Sir Anthony Wheeler.

Drawn while a student of the school in the late 1940s the sketchbooks will be held in archives and collections alongside the John Keppie scholarship report, also illustrated by Wheeler, for the enjoyment of present and future students.

The first volume, a review of 18th and 19th-century architecture around Perth, dates from 1948 and showcases Wheeler's understanding of historic styles which would later prove invaluable in his work with partner Frank Sproson on historic houses through the sixties and seventies.

Formed in 1952 Wheeler & Sproson was responsible for preserving many historic villages in Fife such as The Gyles in Pittenweem.

A later set of drawings focus on contemporary church design such as Le Raincy Church in Paris, which helped to seed an affinity for ecclesiastical architecture which reached its zenith at St Columba's Parish Church in Glenrothes.

The final collection from 1949 includes a detailed study of cantilevers, led by a study of the Forth Bridge as well as London Underground Central Line stations and the then recently completed Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Presenting the works Wheeler’s daughter, Pamela Wheeler, said: “I have been impressed with the wide range of archives available at GSA and my father would have been thrilled to know that a broad range of students could have the opportunity to access his work for many years to come.”

As chief assistant to the Glenrothes Development Corporation Wheeler was a pioneer of modernism, with notable examples of his work including the Hunter Building at Edinburgh College of Art, the Upper Langlee housing estate in Galashiels and the tourist centre in Stranraer, the town of his birth.

Wheeler remained an active draughtsman and artist throughout his life, exhibiting with the Scottish Society of Architect artists until his death in 2013.

1 Comment

#1 Posted by Bill S on 25 Feb 2022 at 09:35 AM

This collection looks brilliant.

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