Cullen, Gordon 1914 - 1994

Thomas Gordon Cullen [commonly known as Gordon Cullen] was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, on 9 August 1914 and studied architecture at Regent’s Street Polytechnic in London from 1930 to 1933.  Over the next four years he worked in the offices of two of the key figures of British modernism - Raymond McGrath and Berthold Lubetkin (Tecton). He assisted Lubetkin in the design of the Finsbury Health Centre, the Highgate flats, and other major projects. Between 1937 and 1939 Cullen was in private practice in London as an architectural illustrator and exhibition designer, during which time he designed displays for the influential MARS. Modern Architectural Research Group exhibition held at New Burlington Galleries in London in 1938.  In 1939 he produced the illustrations for the 1940 edition of the 'Kynoch Press Diary and Note Book' (Birmingham, England: Kynoch Press, 1940).  Cullen spent much of Second World War years in Bermuda working with the Colonial Office planning team.  In 1946 he became deputy editor of ‘Architectural Review’ (AR) and during the post-war period was to become an important motivator and activist in the development of British theories of urban design. Cullen also worked as an illustrator for the ‘AR’. His books, including ‘The Concise Townscape’ (1961), and his style of drawing were to become very influential

From the 1950s onwards he acted as townscape consultant both in Britain and abroad.  In 1959 he was appointed civic design advisor for the replanning of New Delhi and in 1965 he was consultant to Buckinghamshire County Council on the development of villages. He was elected a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) by the Royal Society of Arts in 1975, and in 1976 was awarded the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal for services to architecture. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers (FSIAD). Cullen died in Slough, Buckinghamshire on 11 August 1994