Alexander Thomson

For other uses, see Alexander Thomson (disambiguation).

Alexander "Greek" Thomson
c. 1850
Born(1817-04-09)9 April 1817
Balfron, Scotland
Died22 March 1875(1875-03-22) (aged 57)
Glasgow, Scotland
NationalityScottish
CitizenshipScottish
OccupationArchitect
Parent(s)Elizabeth Cooper
John Thomson
BuildingsCaledonia Road Church, Queen's Park United Presbyterian Church, St. Vincent Street Church, Holmwood House, Craigrownie Castle & others at Cove, Argyll
"Greek" Thomson's later work such as the Grecian Chambers on Sauchiehall Street used Greek and Egyptian forms.[1][2]

Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was little appreciated outside Glasgow during his lifetime. It has only been since the 1950s and 1960s that his critical reputation has revived—not least of all in connection with his probable influence on Frank Lloyd Wright.[3]

Henry-Russell Hitchcock wrote of Thomson in 1966: "Glasgow in the last 150 years has had two of the greatest architects of the Western world. C. R. Mackintosh was not highly productive but his influence in central Europe was comparable to such American architects as Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. An even greater and happily more productive architect, though one whose influence can only occasionally be traced in America in Milwaukee and in New York City and not at all as far as I know in Europe, was Alexander Thomson".[4]

  1. ^ Cosgrove, D.; Daniels, S. (1988). The Iconography of Landscape: Essays on the Symbolic Representation, Design and Use of Past Environments. Camb. Studs.in Historical Geog. Cambridge University Press. pp. 245, 247. ISBN 978-0-521-38915-0. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  2. ^ Curl, J.S.; Wilson, S. (2015). The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture. Oxford Quick Reference. OUP Oxford. p. 765. ISBN 978-0-19-105385-6. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  3. ^ Andrew MacMillan in "Greek" Thomson, Stamp et al., p.207
  4. ^ Letter by Hitchcock published in the Glasgow Herald, 4 March 1966, on the occasion of the proposed demolition by the City council of the Caledonia Road Church