Charles Rattray, teacher and writer with ‘infectious enthusiasm’, dies aged 66

A trained architect, Rattray spent more than 25 years lecturing at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and the University of Dundee as well as writing numerous books and contributing to the UK’s main architectural magazines, including the AJ.

Anne Walker, design and technology teacher
I recall him arriving as a visiting critic at [Scott Sutherland School of Architecture] during my years there in the 80s. I remember thinking he was way too young to be a tutor. He was charming, had a wry smile and was always chuckling about something or other. He was someone who I recall always being of a happy disposition. He was passionate about architecture and genuinely appeared to love engaging with the students. Sad news.

He formed Hutton Rattray Architects with his friend Graeme Hutton a year later but continued teaching at Robert Gordon until 2006.

A great character and true gentleman; you will be sorely missed Charles and I thank you for all of your support, enthusiasm, encouragement and words of wisdom.

Gordon Murray, architect and visiting lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University
A great friend and colleague whom I first met on an RIBA visiting board and through his editing role on ARQ. A great draftsman designer critic and writer whose absence in recent years was missed by a lot of friends. His passing is very sad but brings back fond memories.

Jude Barber, director at Collective Architecture
Charles was a driving force and colourful character at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture when I studied there in the 1990s. His infectious laugh and warm demeanour sat happily alongside his passion and knowledge for architecture – as both an art and a discipline. He inspired so many and will be sorely missed.

Despite his encyclopedic knowledge of architecture, his skills as a designer and his great ability to pass these on to his students, he did not ever take himself too seriously and he could always see and appreciate the funny and absurd sides of life. He was a wonderful writer; organised (if often last minute…), well-informed, precise and to the point, witty and beautifully phrased. His analytical skills and ability to understand buildings were impressive and always a pleasure to witness.

Ross Aitchison, architect at Collective Architecture
I met Charles when he was my external examiner at ECA back in 2010. On hearing that I had six months to fill in my Part 1 year, and that I was heading home to Aberdeen, he invited me to spend it with him, working on some projects on his home. He would become a great mentor and friend, a deeply generous supporter and sounding-board from our very first meeting.

Graeme Hutton,  architect and professor of architecture at University of Dundee
That universities ‘transform lives’ is an often touted epithet, yet, with exposure to the right teachers and an appetite for learning, it is one that I firmly attest to.

Emily Cavanagh, University of Dundee graduate (2014)
I graduated from his and Graeme Hutton’s Architecture and the City unit at Duncan of Jordanstone in 2014. Up to that point, architecture made little sense to me and I was seriously considering leaving university before completing my Master’s year. When we received the brief I remember feeling an instant spark of excitement after reading the project brief that Charles and Graeme had issued for their unit.

Torsten Schmiedeknecht, co-author with Rattray and Andrew Peckham of the 2007 book Rationalist Traces (Architectural Design), described him as ‘an utterly delightful person’ and ‘one of the funniest people I have ever met’.

As a tutor and critic he brought out a way of seeing and thinking architecturally that embodied rationalism at its core yet sought poetry in its execution. With our shared interest in fields also outside of architecture we became firm friends and established Hutton Rattray Architects. Although short-lived it was that intense period of practice together in all its forms – designing, writing and teaching – that created a professional intimacy that lasted nearly 40 years. We also had great fun together, enjoying abstract and absurd dialogues which left our sides aching from laughter.

I felt honoured over the years to be able to work with him, but more importantly to call him a friend. To me to have met him was indeed one of those lucky occurrences that happen only a few times in one’s lifetime. Charles was great company, a brilliant and generous host and he was one of the funniest people I have ever met – he often had me in tears when recounting one of his many anecdotes.

During that year, I remember a lot of conversations, crits, late nights, laughter and, gradually, things began to fall into place as I gained more confidence in my position as an architect. I attribute this to the discourse that was encouraged among the students but mostly to the leadership and brilliant tutelage of Charles and Graeme. They ran the unit as a collaborative office, where everyone’s thesis was interrelated and engaged in a dialogue with the existing city where we lived. The approach and attitude to problem-solving that they taught me is still one which I employ today.

Torsten Schmiedeknecht, reader in architecture, University of Liverpool
Charles was a good friend and we collaborated on various publications for almost 20 years. I will never forget the evening I first met him in a restaurant in Liverpool, walking home afterwards and thinking what a great pleasure it was to have met Charles. His intelligence, knowledge of and passion for architecture, warmth, love of life and great sense of humour were immediately evident.

David Henderson, director at Glenn Howells Architects
Charles was a real character, always enthusiastic and passionate about architecture and teaching. I was part of a great weekend masterclass with him along with Richard MacCormac and David Lea up in Cromarty in 1990, he didn’t wait for the car to come to a stop before he got out of the door. I hope that all who knew him carry a bit of that spirit.

Hugh Cullum, Hugh Cullum Architects
Charles was a wonderful enthusiast, always with a twinkle in his eye which belied a wry sense of humour and healthy dose of scepticism. He very kindly wrote about our practice a few times and, most notably, wrote a chapter in our practice book published by Blackdog (one of the last through their doors).

In 2016, work completed on an extension to his own home in Marchbank, Bieldside, just outside Aberdeen, which was designed with emerging practice Baillie Baillie and Ross Aitchison, now of Collective Architecture.

I kept in touch with Charles post university, and he joined me on the editorial board of Design Exchange (DE) magazine. He had an amazing gift of being able to write wonderfully (and critically) about architecture and loved finding new practices that were quietly delivering high-quality thinking and buildings, eg Bach & Mora, Claus en Kaan and Geurst & Schulze Architecten.

I will greatly miss Charles, both for his passion for architecture and for being an utterly delightful person.

Charles had an open-door policy and his help and insight allowed me to progress my project to a level beyond what I was capable of previously. He really invested in us as individuals and his attention and guidance allowed me to develop as a professional, which will remain with me forever.

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Source:Chris Berridge