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| Alison Blamire obituary | Alison Blamire obituary |
| (3 months later) | |
| Alistair Blamire | |
| Sun 29 Oct 2017 16.08 GMT | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 14.42 GMT | |
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| My wife, Alison Blamire, who has died aged 66, was an architect, teacher and artist. Together we set up Arcade Architects in 1981 on the south side of Edinburgh, where the practice remained until 2011. It created some award-winning local projects in the 1990s and 2000s including flats at Lyne Street, the Mossman Houses and Flora Stevenson’s Nursery School. | My wife, Alison Blamire, who has died aged 66, was an architect, teacher and artist. Together we set up Arcade Architects in 1981 on the south side of Edinburgh, where the practice remained until 2011. It created some award-winning local projects in the 1990s and 2000s including flats at Lyne Street, the Mossman Houses and Flora Stevenson’s Nursery School. |
| Alison was one of very few female principals in private practice in Scotland. She taught architectural design at Glasgow School of Art for almost 20 years and was heavily involved in committee work. She was an original board member of Architecture and Design Scotland, the body responsible for implementing the Scottish government’s Policy for Architecture and Place. | Alison was one of very few female principals in private practice in Scotland. She taught architectural design at Glasgow School of Art for almost 20 years and was heavily involved in committee work. She was an original board member of Architecture and Design Scotland, the body responsible for implementing the Scottish government’s Policy for Architecture and Place. |
| Born in Edinburgh, Alison was the first child of Stuart Harris, an architect, and Catherine Maciver, an artist. She attended James Gillespie’s high school and studied architecture at Edinburgh College of Art and Glasgow School of Art. At GSA she came under the influence of the distinguished teachers and architects Andy Macmillan and Isi Metzstein. | Born in Edinburgh, Alison was the first child of Stuart Harris, an architect, and Catherine Maciver, an artist. She attended James Gillespie’s high school and studied architecture at Edinburgh College of Art and Glasgow School of Art. At GSA she came under the influence of the distinguished teachers and architects Andy Macmillan and Isi Metzstein. |
| After graduating in 1976, Alison joined Macmillan and Metzstein’s renowned modernist practice Gillespie Kidd and Coia, working on its final major project, Robinson College in Cambridge, completed in the late 1970s. | After graduating in 1976, Alison joined Macmillan and Metzstein’s renowned modernist practice Gillespie Kidd and Coia, working on its final major project, Robinson College in Cambridge, completed in the late 1970s. |
| We met through friends in Edinburgh in 1969, married in 1976, and after working for a few years decided to study abroad before setting up home. In 1980 Alison gained a master’s in architecture from the University of Oregon, where she later taught for a while. | We met through friends in Edinburgh in 1969, married in 1976, and after working for a few years decided to study abroad before setting up home. In 1980 Alison gained a master’s in architecture from the University of Oregon, where she later taught for a while. |
| She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, which triggered the autoimmune disease dermatomyositis. The illness caused a period of reflection and she concentrated for a time on screen printing, exhibiting at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Printmakers and St Columba’s Hospice. | She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, which triggered the autoimmune disease dermatomyositis. The illness caused a period of reflection and she concentrated for a time on screen printing, exhibiting at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Printmakers and St Columba’s Hospice. |
| Alison could be engaging and fun but she was a dogged pursuer of issues which caught her imagination. Once hooked, she always went the final mile in pursuit of truth and the right way of doing things. Her relentless approach to any project she espoused had a huge influence over colleagues, friends and family. | Alison could be engaging and fun but she was a dogged pursuer of issues which caught her imagination. Once hooked, she always went the final mile in pursuit of truth and the right way of doing things. Her relentless approach to any project she espoused had a huge influence over colleagues, friends and family. |
| Her final working passion was the Causey, an urban realm project next to Arcade Architects’ old offices in West Crosscauseway. Her original idea involved a temporary project on the site, transforming a barren three-way road junction over one weekend into a tropical paradise. It won an Architects’ Journal small projects award in 2008. As a result, the Causey Development Trust was set up with a view to making this a permanent feature, an exemplar of this type of work, acknowledging the area’s history and promoting community engagement, health, cycling and walking – a place for people, not cars. | Her final working passion was the Causey, an urban realm project next to Arcade Architects’ old offices in West Crosscauseway. Her original idea involved a temporary project on the site, transforming a barren three-way road junction over one weekend into a tropical paradise. It won an Architects’ Journal small projects award in 2008. As a result, the Causey Development Trust was set up with a view to making this a permanent feature, an exemplar of this type of work, acknowledging the area’s history and promoting community engagement, health, cycling and walking – a place for people, not cars. |
| Treated again for cancer, she continued her work on the Causey before she was admitted to St Columba’s Hospice. | Treated again for cancer, she continued her work on the Causey before she was admitted to St Columba’s Hospice. |
| She is survived by me, by our children, Will and Lois, and by her younger brothers, Peter, Neil and Robbie. | She is survived by me, by our children, Will and Lois, and by her younger brothers, Peter, Neil and Robbie. |
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