1. Hugh Casson was the director of architecture for the 1951 Festival of Britain.
10 Facts About Hugh Casson
1. 2.
Hugh Casson was the nephew of the actor Lewis Casson and his wife the actress Sybil Thorndike.
3.
Hugh Casson was educated at Eastbourne College in East Sussex, then at St John's College, Cambridge, where his subject was architecture, after which he spent time at the Bartlett School of Architecture in Bloomsbury, London, and the British School at Athens.
4.
Hugh Casson met his future wife, Margaret Macdonald Troup, an architect and designer who taught design at the Royal College of Art, while they were both students.
5.
Hugh Casson wrote the book New Sights of London in 1938 for London Transport, championing modern architecture within reach of London, while remaining critical of the UK's record in innovative building.
6.
Hugh Casson was appointed to his role as director of architecture of the Festival of Britain on the South Bank in 1948 at the age of 38, and set out to celebrate peace and modernity through the appointment of other young architects.
7.
Hugh Casson was a friend of members of the British royal family and is reported to have taught watercolour painting to Prince Charles.
8.
Hugh Casson supplied watercolour illustrations for a new edition of Sir John Betjeman's verse autobiography Summoned by Bells ; The Illustrated "Summoned by Bells" was published by John Murray in 1989.
9.
Hugh Casson was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1978, and a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1985.
10.
Hugh Casson was elected an associate member of the Royal Academy in 1962, and a full member in 1970.