Donald Ewart Donnithorne (31 July 1926 – 5 August 2016) was a New Zealand architect based in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. Born on 31 July 1926, and raised in

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

, Donnithorne was the son of hotelkeepers. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he studied architecture by correspondence in the "Christchurch Atelier"', instead of travelling to the only architecture school in New Zealand at that time in Auckland. His student contemporaries included

Miles Warren The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

and

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, and the three would go on to become the most significant figures in Christchurch architecture of the second half of the 20th century, producing works with clean, modernist lines. However, unlike Warren and Maurice Mahoney, who were strongly influenced by brutalism, Donnithorne followed Scandinavian cues in his work. One of Donnithorne's earliest designs was for the Evangelistic Temple, at the corner of

Colombo Street Colombo Street is a main road of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It runs south-north through the centre of Christchurch with a break at Cathedral Square. As with many other central Christchurch streets, it is named for a colonial Anglica ...

and Moorhouse Avenue in Christchurch. His later works included the Wigram Air Force Museum, the Netball Centre in Hagley Park, and the Millbrook Apartments in Carlton Mill Road. Donnithorne's residential work included the Romeni house in the suburb of Cashmere, for which he was awarded a

New Zealand Institute of Architects Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) is a membership-based professional organisation that represents 90 per cent of all registered architects in New Zealand, and promotes architecture that enhances the New Zealand livi ...

national award in 1979. In the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, Donnithorne was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to architecture. He was also a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. In 2012, Donnithorne published a book, entitled ''Don Donnithorne: an architectural journey'', of his watercolours of places that he had visited. Donnithorne died in Christchurch on 5 August 2016 at the age of 90. His widow, Gloria Dawn Janet Donnithorne, to whom he was married in 1949, died on 26 May 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnithorne, Don 1926 births 2016 deaths People from Timaru New Zealand architects New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the New Zealand Institute of Architects