Denys Lasdun

Sir Denys Lasdun (8 September 1914-11 January 2001) was an eminent English architect of the 20th century, particularly associated with the Modernist design of the Royal National Theatre on London's South Bank of the River Thames.

Like other Modernist architects, including Sir Basil Spence and Peter and Alison Smithson, Lasdun was much influenced by Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, but there was a gentler, more classical influnce, too, from the likes of Nicholas Hawksmoor. Before and after Second World War service in the army, he worked for a while with Berthold Lubetkin's Tecton practice, after which he set up his own London-based practice.

Lasdun’s projects included:

• Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (1959-60)
• Royal College of Physicians, London (1960-64)
• student housing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich (1962-68)
• Keeling House, Bethnal Green, east London
• Institute of Education, Bloomsbury, London
• Royal National Theatre, London (1967-76)
• first phase of the European Investment Bank, Luxembourg (1974-80)