Leslie Wilkinson

Leslie Wilkinson was a professor of architecture at University of Sydney. He was born on 12 October 1882 at New Southgate, Middlesex, England and died on 20 September 1973 at Vaucluse. His whole life was dedicated to architecture as both an academic and practising architect.

Wilkinson was the founding dean of the faculty of architecture at University of Sydney in 1920. His ideals on architecture as a form of art had strongly influenced both the school and its students. The emphasis on the teaching of philosophy and practice of design was at the time a frontier in architecture education. Wilkinson was never a part of the modern architecture movement. His work, both as a teacher and practising architect, was consistently involved only with traditional architecture, which was inspired by Australian's colonial heritage and Mediterranean architecture. This is contributed by his background training at the Royal Academy of Arts and his study tours in France, Italy, Spain and Great Britain. Wilkinson's influential work is seen in residential, church and University of Sydney master plan.

Leslie Wilkinson was the younger son of commercial clerk Edward Henry Wilkinson. In his early years, he studied at St Edward's School, Oxford and at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, winning several awards,including the touring scholarship (1904, 1905) that allowed him to travel to France, Italy, Spain and England. It was in these early years that his fascination with Mediterranean architecture developed. Wilkinson was James S. Gibson's assistant in 1900. He was an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1907. In 1908, he became Professor F. M. Simpson's assistant at University College in London and later became assistant professor. He enlisted in the Territorial Force during World War I.

Wilkinson had successfully applied for the creation of the faculty of architecture at the University of Sydney. He was appointed as the dean and continued for four years to move architectural education more towards the theory and philosophies of design. During his career as an academic, Wilkinson had also practised as architect. He was appointed the University of Sydney architect in 1919, during which he contributed to the university's master plan. He was also influential in designing residential and church architecture and became the first president of New South Wales state chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 1933. Wilkinson won the first gold medal in 1961. In that year the award was named the Wilkinson Award in his honour.

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