Isi Israel Metzstein
OBE (7 July 1928 – 10 January 2012) was a German-born architect who worked at
Gillespie, Kidd & Coia
Gillespie, Kidd & Coia was a Scottish architectural firm famous for their application of modernism in churches and universities, as well as at St Peter's Seminary in Cardross. Though founded in 1927, they are best known for their work in the ...
and taught at the
Glasgow School of Art
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...
.
He became known for his postwar architectural designs working in the European modernist style of
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
and the American
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
.
Early life
Isidore Israel Metzstein, called Isi Metzstein, was born in the Mitte district of Berlin in 1928,
one of five children.
His parents, Efraim and Rachel Metzstein, were Polish Jews who had moved to Germany in 1920. Isi had an older sister, Lee, an older brother, Josef, a twin sister, Jenny, and a younger brother, Leo,
In 1933, Isi's father, Efraim, died leaving his mother to raise the five children on her own.
In November 1938, after
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
had seen Isi's school set on fire, his mother saw to it that her children were kept safe by sending the 10-year-old Isi and his siblings to Britain on the
Kindertransport
The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...
.
With his brothers and sisters scattered around the UK, Isi was taken in by a family in
Hardgate, Clydebank before they could all be reunited once more, eventually settling in Glasgow.
Career
After leaving
Hyndland School in 1945, Isi's professional career as an architect began with taking evening classes in architecture at the Glasgow School of Art
and an apprenticeship under
Jack Coia
Gillespie, Kidd & Coia was a Scottish architectural firm famous for their application of modernism in churches and universities, as well as at St Peter's Seminary in Cardross. Though founded in 1927, they are best known for their work in the ...
at Gillespie, Kidd & Coia. Whilst at the Glasgow School of Art, Isi met Andy MacMillan and the two became friends, often going for drinks together in the Kings Arms on Elmbank Street.
When
Andy MacMillan
Andrew MacMillan Order of the British Empire, OBE Royal Scottish Academician, RSA Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, FRIAS RIBA (11 December 1928, Maryhill, Glasgow - 16 August 2014, Inverness) was a Scottish architect, ...
joined the firm in 1954, the pair designed many churches, colleges & schools together in the Modernist style.
In 1969, Isi began teaching at the Glasgow School of Art.
and became Professor of Architecture at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
in 1984 before returning to teach in Glasgow in 1991.
Notable designs
* ''St. Paul's Church, Glenrothes'' (1957)
* ''St. Bride's Church, East Kilbride (1962)''
* ''Halls of Residence, University of Hull (1963-67)''
* ''St. Patrick's Church, Kilsyth (1964)''
* ''Our Lady of Good Counsel, Dennistoun (1965)''
* ''
St. Peter's Seminary (1966).''
*
''Notre Dame College, Bearsden'' (1968–69)
* ''St. Benedict's, Drumchapel (1970)''
* ''St Margaret's Hospice, Clydebank (1970)''
* ''St Margaret's RC Church, Clydebank (1970)''
* ''The Library at
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road.
Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...
. (1971-1977)''
* ''Cumbernauld Technical College (1972)''
* ''
Robinson College, Cambridge
Robinson College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1977, it is one of the newest Oxbridge colleges and is unique in having been intended, from its inception, for both ...
.(1974-1980)''
* ''Bonar Hall, Dundee (1975)''
*
''Glasgow School of Art refectory (1981)''
Awards
* Royal Scottish Academy Gold Medal (1975).
* RIAS Lifetime Achievement Award 2008 (with MacMillan)
* Honorary RIBA Fellowship
* RIBA Annie Spink Prize for Education 2008 (with MacMillan)
Personal life
Isi married Danielle Kahn in 1967
and the pair had three children, Mark,
Saul
Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...
and Ruth.
He died on 10 January 2012
at their home in Dowanhill, Glasgow.
Legacy
Writing of Isi Metzstein's passing for Architectural Review, Clare Wright noted that:
"With a change of ethos post war, Coia ceded much of the design control to the young Isi and Andy. An early project for St Paul’s Church in Glenrothes (1957) is a modest building of simple form and materials, yet exhibits an extraordinary quality of light and monumental presence which owed much to Le Corbusier. The sixteen churches that followed formed a distinctive body of work. Combining functional requirements with resonant symbolism, they were the perfect vehicle for developing an architectural philosophy, which reached its most mature expression in the design for St Peter’s Seminary at Cardross."
See also
*
Andy Macmillan
Andrew MacMillan Order of the British Empire, OBE Royal Scottish Academician, RSA Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, FRIAS RIBA (11 December 1928, Maryhill, Glasgow - 16 August 2014, Inverness) was a Scottish architect, ...
*
Gillespie, Kidd & Coia
Gillespie, Kidd & Coia was a Scottish architectural firm famous for their application of modernism in churches and universities, as well as at St Peter's Seminary in Cardross. Though founded in 1927, they are best known for their work in the ...
*
The Glasgow School of Art
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metzstein, Isi
1928 births
2012 deaths
Architects from Glasgow
Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
German emigrants to the United Kingdom