52 CONTEXT 178 : DECEMBER 2023 increase in IT and computers, and fewer secretarial and library staff; digital photography; more value in sustainability and climate change; more building regulations; and more public interest in historic buildings. What are some of your favourite projects that you worked on? Some of my favourite projects have been new mews houses in Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, which retain the materials and smallscale surrounding buildings but with a contemporary approach; Villa Corner Treviso, Veneto, Italy; many new buildings at Woldingham School, Surrey; the Banqueting Hall, Whitehall, and Windsor Castle, where I was part of a large team working on the reconstruction after the disastrous fire in 1992. Which architects have been your greatest inspiration? Arne Jacobsen, Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Rob Erskine, Maxwell Fry and Peter Aldington, among others. What would you like to have been if you had not become an architect? When young I thought I might become a doctor but I happily chose architecture. It gives continuing enjoyment and, among other things, teaches one to look at and appreciate one’s surroundings, be they buildings, nature or the sea, one of my passions being sailing. What is your favourite place? The tiny island of Iona in the Inner Hebrides, with its ancient abbey and nunnery, the beaches of white sand, red rocks and wild pinks, and the crofting landscape. These have been chosen subjects for artists over the centuries, notably the Scottish colourists, in particular Samuel Peploe and Francis Cadell. When the day trippers have left and few people remain, the island has a sense of peace, tranquillity and magic all of its own. Your favourite book? An impossible question. I have just read The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony (with Graham Spence), which relates what happened when Anthony accepted a herd of rogue elephants (which otherwise would have been shot) on to his reserve in Zululand. Another recent book has been Still Life by Sarah Winman, which is set mainly in Tuscany. Much of Florence is described in detail, including the catastrophic floods of 1966. What organisations are you a member of? SPAB, the Heath and Hampstead Society, the Irish Georgian Society and the Woodland Trust. Iona Gibson is an architect who worked for Donald Insall Associates for 48 years, having joined the practice in 1959. This year she celebrated her 90th birthday. Iona Abbey: the island has a sense of peace, tranquillity and magic all of its own. (Photo: Akela, Wikimedia)
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