{{Short description|British architect and academic (1825–1910)}} {{for|the Scotland rugby union player|George Aitchison (rugby union)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Use British English|date=October 2016}} [[File:Professor George Aitchison (1825-1910), by Lawrence Alma-Tadema.jpg|thumb|Professor George Aitchison (Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1900)]] '''George Aitchison''' Jr. RA (London 7 November 1825&nbsp;– 16 May 1910) was a British architect and academic<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=17 May 1910 |title=Obituary – Mr. George Aitchison, R.A. |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1910-05-17/10/12.html |url-access=subscription |location=London |number=39274 |page=10}}</ref><ref name="Felstead">{{cite book |last1=Felstead |first1=Alison |last2=Franklin |first2=Jonathan |last3=Pinfield |first3=Leslie |name-list-style=amp |date=1993 |title=Directory of British Architects 1834-1900 |url=https://archive.org/details/directoryofbriti0000unse_f2h9/page/6/mode/1up |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=Mansell Publishing |isbn=0720121582 |page=6 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> of "considerable reputation".<ref>{{cite book |last=Curl |first=James Stevens |author-link=James Stevens Curl |date=2006 |chapter=Aitchison, George, jun. |title=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture |edition=2nd |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch0000curl_a9p5/page/12/mode/1up |chapter-url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch0000curl_a9p5/mode/1up |url-access=registration |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198606789 |page=12 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

He was the son of architect, civil engineer, and surveyor George Aitchison (1792–1861),<ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1862 |title=Memoirs – Mr. George Aitchison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u8tMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA173 |journal=Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |volume=21 |pages=569–571 |location=London |publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Colvin |first=Howard |author-link=Howard Colvin |date=1978 |chapter=Aitchison, George (1792–1861) |title=A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000colv/page/61/mode/1up |chapter-url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000colv |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=John Murray |isbn=0719533287 |page=61 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and educated at Merchant Taylors' School<ref name="Robinson">{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Charles J. |date=1883 |title=A Register of the Scholars Admitted Into Merchant Taylors' School: from A.D. 1562 to 1874 |volume=II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wDVAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA260 |location=Lewes |publisher=Farncombe & Co. |page=260 |via=Google Books}}</ref> then University College London, obtaining a first class Bachelor of Arts degree (with honours in animal physiology{{efn|All B.A. students were tested in four subjects (mathematics and natural philosophy, animal physiology, classics, and logic and moral philosophy) and could sit an additional honours examination.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bellot |first=H. Hale |author-link=Hugh Hale Bellot |date=1929 |title=University College, London 1826–1926 |url=https://archive.org/details/universitycolleg0000hhal/page/298/mode/1up |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=University of London Press |page=298 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>}}) in 1850.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=6 November 1850 |title=University Intelligence |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/page/1850-11-06/3.html |url-access=subscription |work=The Times |location=London |number=20639 |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 December 1850 |title=University Intelligence |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1850-12-05/8/3.html |url-access=subscription |work=The Times |location=London |number=20664 |page=8}}</ref>

His best-known work is Leighton House in Kensington, described by architectural historian J. Mordaunt Crook as "one of the most innovative houses of the Victorian period",<ref name="Crook">{{cite ODNB |last=Crook |first=J. Mordaunt |author-link=J. Mordaunt Crook |date=2004 |title=Aitchison, George (1825–1910) |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30356 |url-access=subscription |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/30356 }}</ref> which he designed for his friend, the artist Frederic Leighton.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gere |first=Charlotte |date=May 2010 |title=Leighton House: Its Rise, Fall, And Rise |magazine=Apollo |volume=171 |location=London |publisher=Press Holdings Media Group |pages=54–59 |issn=0003-6536}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Droth |first=Martina |date=2011 |title=Leighton's House: Art In and Beyond the Studio |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41419642 |url-access=limited |journal=Journal of Design History |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=339–358 |doi=10.1093/jdh/epr038 |jstor=41419642 |issn=0952-4649 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Abrahams |first=Tim |date=February 2023 |title=There's No Place Like Home |magazine=Architectural Record |location=New York |publisher=BNP Media |pages=52–57 |issn=0003-858X}}</ref> This generated a number of commissions from well-heeled clients and "established him as a master of decoration and ornament".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lever |first1=Jill |last2=Richardson |first2=Margaret |name-list-style=amp |date=1984 |title=The Art of the Architect: Treasures from the RIBA's Collections |url=https://archive.org/details/artofarchitecttr0000leve/page/25/mode/1up |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=Trefoil Books |isbn=0862940605 |page=25 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Moncure D. Conway considered the house of Frederick Lehman in Berkeley Square to be Aitchison's "''chef-d'œuvre''", noting that the rooms he completed "would fein see themselves hung upon the walls of the Royal Academy, and not merely the designs of some of them, which were, indeed exhibited there".<ref>{{cite book |last=Conway |first=Moncure Daniel |author-link=Moncure D. Conway |date=1882 |title=Travels in South Kensington, with Notes on Decorative Art and Architecture in England |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft51g1006k&seq=163 |location=London |publisher=Trübner & Co. |page=159 |via=HathiTrust}}</ref>

Aitchison became an associate member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1881 and a full member in 1898,{{efn|The diploma work Aitchison submitted was for the design of the Royal Exchange Assurance building, Pall Mall.{{sfnp|Hodgson|Eaton|1905|p=376}}}} and was Professor of Architecture there from 1887<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=14 March 1887 |title=The Royal Academy |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1887-03-14/6/2.html |url-access=subscription |work=The Times |location=London |number=32019 |page=6}}</ref>{{sfnp|Hodgson|Eaton|1905|pp=359, 367}} to 1905. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1862, and after serving as its vice-president from 1889 to 1893, succeeded Francis Penrose as president from 1896 to 1899. He was awarded their Royal Gold Medal in 1898.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cooper |first=Thompson |author-link=Thompson Cooper |date=1884 |title=Men Of The Time: A Dictionary Of Contemporaries |edition=11th |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.89163/page/n27/mode/1up |location=London |publisher=George Routledge and Son |page=15 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=28 May 1910 |title=The late Professor Aitchison, R.A. |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_riba-journal_1910-05-28_17_14/page/581/mode/1up |magazine=Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects |location=London |volume=17 |issue=14 |pages=581–583 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

==Publications== *{{cite book |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=1878 |chapter=Restoration of Ancient Buildings |title=Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, 1877 |chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112109951662&seq=762 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112109951662&seq=1 |location=London |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co. |pages=712–720, 726 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite book |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=1883 |chapter=Address on Art |title=Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, 1882 |chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105224018&seq=173 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105224018&seq=1 |location=London |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co. |pages=111–123 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=27 February 1886 |title=Architectural Education |magazine=The Builder |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125007023142/page/331/mode/1up |volume=50 |number=2247 |pages=331–334, 351 |via=Internet Archive}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=6 March 1886 |title=Mouldings |magazine=The Builder |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125007023142/page/365/mode/1up |volume=50 |number=2248 |pages=365–366 |via=Internet Archive}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=13 March 1886 |title=Mouldings |magazine=The Builder |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125007023142/page/402/mode/1up |volume=50 |number=2249 |pages=402–404 |via=Internet Archive}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=15 December 1888 |title=Utilitarian Ugliness in Towns |magazine=The Builder |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft9d560w90&seq=780 |volume=55 |number=2393 |pages=430–433 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=2 February 1889 |title=Roman Architecture |magazine=The Builder |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft7zm0qg7z&seq=169 |volume=56 |number=2400 |pages=85–88 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=9 February 1889 |title=Roman Thermæ: The Baths at Caracalla |magazine=The Builder |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft7zm0qg7z&seq=203 |volume=56 |number=2401 |pages=103–106 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=16 February 1889 |title=The Thermæ at Caracalla (''Continued'') |magazine=The Builder |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft7zm0qg7z&seq=237 |volume=56 |number=2402 |pages=121–124 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=23 February 1889 |title=The Roman Thermæ |magazine=The Builder |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft7zm0qg7z&seq=274 |volume=56 |number=2403 |pages=142–125 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=2 March 1889 |title=Decorative Materials |magazine=The Builder |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft7zm0qg7z&seq=376 |volume=56 |number=2404 |pages=162–165 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=9 March 1889 |title=The Principal Marbles Used By the Romans: An Appendix to the Fifth Royal Academy Lecture |magazine=The Builder |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft7zm0qg7z&seq=345 |volume=56 |number=2405 |pages=181–183 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=George |date=16 March 1889 |title=Construction |magazine=The Builder |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft7zm0qg7z&seq=310 |volume=56 |number=2406 |pages=198–201 |via=HathiTrust}}

*{{cite magazine |last=Aitchison |first=G. |date=January 1891 |title=The Principles of Decoration |magazine=Popular Science Monthly |url=https://archive.org/details/popularsciencemo38newy/page/390/mode/1up |volume=38 |pages=390–398 |via=Internet Archive}}

*{{cite journal |last=Aitchison |first=G. |date=1892 |title=Byzantine Architecture |journal=Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects |series=New series |volume=8 |pages=221–264}}

*{{cite book |editor-last=Aitchison |editor-first=George |last=Ward |first=James |date=1896 |title=The Principles of Ornament |edition=Second |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924014500668/mode/1up |location=London |publisher=Chapman and Hall |via=Internet Archive }}

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

===Sources===

* {{cite book |last1=Hodgson |first1=J. E. |author-link1=John Evan Hodgson |last2=Eaton |first2=Fred A. |author-link2=Frederick A. Eaton |name-list-style=amp |date=1905 |title=The Royal Academy and Its Members 1768–1830 |url=https://archive.org/details/royalacademyitsm00hodg/page/n406/mode/1up |location=London |publisher=John Murray |via=Internet Archive}}

==External links== * {{wikisource author-inline}} * Designs by Aitchison on the [https://www.ribapix.com/search?adv=false&q=George%20Aitchison# Royal Institute of British Architects] website. * Designs by, and photographs of Aitchison on the [https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/george-aitchison-ra Royal Academy of Arts] website.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitchison, George}} Category:1825 births Category:1910 deaths Category:Architects from London Category:Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Category:Members of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium Category:Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects Category:Royal Academicians Category:People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Category:Alumni of University College London