Sir Leslie Patick Abercrombie, Hon. FAIA

Year Awarded: 1950
Born: June 06, 1879; Ashton-upon-Mersey, England
Died: 1957; Aston Tirrold,England


Projects
• 1943: County of London Plan
• 1944: Greater London Regional Plan


Biography
As one of the most distinguished British architects and town planners of the 20th century, Leslie Patrick Abercrombie trained first as an architect at the Liverpool School of Architecture. In 1909, while already working as a lecturer at the school’s department of architecture, Abercrombie joined the newly established department of civic design, where he was the founding editor of the journal Town Planning Review. He served as the school’s Lever Professor of Civic Design until 1935. The foundation for his international reputation as a planner was launched in 1915, with his award-winning design, in association with Sydney and Arthur Kelly, in the Dublin Town Planning Competition.

In 1935 Abercrombie joined the University College London as professor of town planning. It was here that he later created the County of London Plan and the Greater London Plan, which formed the foundation for the rebuilding of London after World War II. These plans together became known as the Abercrombie Plan. He also consulted on the planning and rebuilding of the cities of Edinburgh and Bath, among others.

He served as a consultant to the Department of Health in Scotland from 1936 and consulted to the Dublin City Corporation until after the war’s end.

Sir Abercrombie redesigned the city of Hong Kong at the British Government’s invitation, and in 1956 he drew up plans for Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

In 1916 he won a competition on town planning from the Civics Institute of Ireland. In 1926 Abercrombie wrote The Preservation of Rural England and in 1933 Town and Country Planning. He was the founding honorary secretary of the Council for the Protection of Rural England and supported establishing national parks. He was knighted in 1945 for his services in the area of civic planning, and in 1946 he was given the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He had been made a RIBA fellow in 1925 and had served as vice president of the Royal Institute from 1937 to 1939.

Abercrombie was a pioneer in coherent regional planning, sustainable development, and preservation of the balance between urban and rural life.