Fry, E(dwin) Maxwell

Fry, E(dwin) Maxwell (1899-1987), British architect who was a leading figure in the modern movement in Britain. See Modern Art and Architecture.

Fry was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, and, after serving in World War I, studied at the University of Liverpool School of Architecture from 1920 to 1924. In 1924 he joined the urban planning firm of Adams & Thompson, in London, where (with the exception of three years in the architects’ department of Southern Railways) he remained until 1934.

Up until the early 1930s Fry had worked in a neo-Georgian style. His first major works as an architect of the modern movement were showrooms for the Westminster Electricity Corporation, in London (1933), and a block of flats, Sassoon House, in Peckham, London (1933-1934). In 1934, Fry established his own practice and from then until 1937 was joined by Walter Gropius.

During World War II, Fry spent some time in western Africa and, with Jane B. Drew, whom he had married in 1942, worked as a town planning adviser. In 1946 the couple established Fry, Drew & Partners, which also included Denys Lasdun and other British architects. Fry and Drew were the first architects to study systematically the problems of building in the tropics, and the partnership received many commissions for housing and offices in tropical countries. Their modernist style was adapted to local conditions, using local materials and traditional elements. In 1951 the partnership was appointed as senior architects for Chandīgarh, the new capital of the Punjab. During this time, however, Fry, Drew & Partners was also active in Britain; major projects include the head office of Pilkington Glass, in St Helens (1965), and the redevelopment of Hatfield Old Town (1972). Fry retired from practice in 1973.