I was saddened to learn of the death of David Childs (1941-2025). He was the chair when I joined the Commission of Fine Arts, and an intelligent architect and a charming man. Reading the obituaries put me in mind of something I came across while writing The Biography of a Building, about the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, a very early Norman Foster design. Sir Hugh Casson, the dean of postwar British architects, had written a letter of recommendation for the young Foster, who was being considered for the job: “As you have already met him [Foster], you need not be told that he is a man of great energy, drive and enthusiasm, with enough granite beneath the charm to ensure consistency in any project to which he lays his hand.” Charm is a professional requirement for an architect; granite is a rarer attribute.
