Ralph Tubbs

Ralph Sydney Tubbs OBE FRIBA (9 January 1912 – 24 November 1996) was a British architect. Well known amongst the buildings he designed was the Dome of Discovery at the successful Festival of Britain on the South Bank in London in 1951.

Background

Ralph Sydney Tubbs was born in Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, in 1912.^[1] He was educated at Mill Hill School and then the Architectural Association, which is highly regarded in Modern architecture and engineering.^[1]

Career

In 1935, Tubbs began working for Ernő Goldfinger, participating in the design of Goldfinger's house on 2 Willow Road. In 1940 he designed the Living in Cities exhibition for the British Institute of Adult Education and the Council for Encouragement of Music and Arts, for which he made in 1942 a small book as well. During the World War II, Tubbs was not in services for medical reason, and worked as firewatcher.^[2]

Buildings designed by Tubbs include (dates shown for design to building)

1935–1938 only working drawings for 2 Willow Road, Hampstead, London (designed by Erno Goldfinger)
1948–1951 Dome of Discovery, South Bank, London
1952–1953 YMCA Indian Student Hostel, Fitzrovia, London^[3]
1956–1961 Baden-Powell House, Kensington, London
1960 Granada House, Manchester^[3]
1959-1973 Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith, London (constructed 1969–73)

Ralph Tubbs's Dome of Discovery project was given tribute at the Millennium Dome. In 1951, The Dome of Discovery was not only the largest diameter dome in the world, 365 feet across, but was totally unsupported except around the perimeter.

Personal life

In 1946, Tubbs married Mary Taberner.^[1] They were longtime residents of Wimbledon Village, and had two sons and a daughter.^[1]

On 24 November 1996, Tubbs died from complications of sepsis and subacute bacterial endocarditis at St George's Hospital in London, aged 84.^[1]

Publications

Tubbs, Ralph (1942). Living in Cities. Penguin.
Tubbs, Ralph (1945). The Englishman Builds.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Harwood, Elain (2012). "Tubbs, Ralph Sydney (1912–1996), architect and exhibition designer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/64071. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "History of Festival of Britain". Archived from the original on 19 December 2005. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
^ ^a ^b "The Twentieth Century Society, Building of the Month February 2005". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 8 July 2006.

[ODNB-1] Harwood, Elain (2012). "Tubbs, Ralph Sydney (1912–1996), architect and exhibition designer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/64071. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[2] "History of Festival of Britain". Archived from the original on 19 December 2005. Retrieved 9 July 2006.

[20cs-3] "The Twentieth Century Society, Building of the Month February 2005". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 8 July 2006.

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