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Theo Crosby
Official Bio
[Source: pentagram archives]Founder, Pentagram Design 1925-1994
Theo Crosby was born in South Africa and qualified as an architect at the University of Witwaterstrand. In 1947 he relocated to Britain, where he worked first in the architectural practices of Maxwell Fry, Jane Drew and Denys Lasdun, then combined freelance practice with the technical editorship of Architectural Design. From 1962 to 1964 he led the Taylor Woodrow team of architects responsible for reconstructing London’s Euston Station. In 1964 he co-founded Crosby/Fletcher/Forbes with Alan Fletcher and Colin Forbes, and while with this group he designed the industrial section of the British Pavilion at Expo ’67.
Alan Fletcher and Colin Forbes were two of the partners with whom Theo went on to form Pentagram in 1972. At Pentagram he was responsible for the design of such seminal projects as the “How to the Play the Environment Game” show at the Hayward Gallery in 1973, the “British Genius” exhibition of 1977, and the interiors of the British headquarters of Unilever. In the early 1990s he oversaw a major refurbishment of the Barbican Centre and an extension to the Museum of London. Probably his most important architectural achievement, however, was the reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a project that spanned more than twenty years.
Theo was active in environmental conservation, for which he received two European Architectural Heritage Year Awards in 1975. He was a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a member of the Berlin Academy, a fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers, a governor of the Chelsea School of Art and the Byam Shaw School of Art, and vice chairman of the MacIntyre School for Mentally Handicapped Children. In 1982 he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1990 he was made a professor of architecture and interior design at the Royal College of Art. He was also a sculptor – a drinking fountain he created was installed in Hyde Park in 1971 – and the author of The Necessary Monument, Architecture: City Sense, The Environment Game, Stonehenge Tomorrow, and numerous articles and essays.
Related Links
Books
Necessary Monument Its Future In Civilis
The pessimist utopia (Pentagram papers ; 2)
The necessary monument;: Its future in the civilized city
Audio Cassette
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