Monica Pidgeon 1913-2009

Monica died last week at the age of 95, twelve days off her 96th birthday. I did not meet Monica until she was 92, I wish it had been earlier.

She had an amazing life, born in Chile in 1913 before the Great War and moving to England in the late 20's to study Architecture. She was the Editor of the highly influential Architecture Design for 3 decades where she championed post-war modernism and counted among her friends Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Buckminster Fuller, Josep Lluís Sert, Louis Kahn and Walter Gropius.

She first asked me to finish off an image set of Richard Rogers by photographing 30 St Mary's Axe (The Gherkin) that she had been working on for Pidgeon Digital and then later the annual Serpentine Pavilions. I was lucky enough to be her "date" last summer for the gala opening of Frank Gehry's pavilion at the U.S. Ambassadors residence in Regents Park and then later onto a function at the Pavilion itself. For the entire night we were accosted by the great and good of the architectural world who just had to say hello and reminisce with "The Grande Dame of British Architecture"

Monica was an inspiration to everyone who knew her. She will be missed.

Her renowned illustrated interviews with world famous architects live on at: www.PidgeonDigital.com