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{{short description|British architect}}{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}

factoids

| birth_place = Blackburn, Lancashire20151106df=y}}| death_place = | nationality = British| other_names = | occupation = Architect| education = | alma_mater = Leeds Art School| years_active = | known_for = Milton Keynes Chief Architect| notable_works = Royal Armouries Museum, LeedsJill MessengerEve Happold (2003-15)}}| children = Matthew Walker, Alex Walker}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}Derek John Walker (15 June 1929 – 11 May 2015) was a British architect primarily associated with urban planning and leisure facilities architecture, through his firm Derek Walker Associates.

Career

After completing his national service, Walker went on to study architecture at Leeds Art School; whilst there he met his first wife Jill Messenger. He then studied planning at the University of Pennsylvania before returning to the UK in 1960 to set up an architectural practice in Leeds.From 1970 to 1976 Walker was Chief Architect and planner of the new town Milton Keynes.WEB, Derek Walker: Milton Keynes - The Art of Illusion,weblink MK Gallery, 16 October 2014, 5 May 2011, He recruited a team and over seven years produced a landscaping strategy for the 'new city', eleven village plans, the structure for the programme for producing 3000 houses per year with supporting community, leisure, retail and sporting and cultural facilities. Amongst his many buildings, possibly the most celebrated was the Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre.N. Pevsner and E. Williamson, Buckinghamshire, 2nd edition, Penguin Books (Buildings of England), 1994, {{ISBN|0-14-071062-0}}, page 494.Milton Keynes shopping centre becomes Grade II listed{{spaced ndash}}The Guardian, 16 July 2010 At the time of its opening in 1979 it was a unique concept for {{convert|1000000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} of retail space with a plan generated around covered landscaped streets. The team for this complex included Stuart Mosscrop, Christopher Woodward and Syd Green.Early housing in Milton Keynes Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre In July 2010, the building was recognised with a Grade II listing, to applause from the 20th Century Society and other conservationists.Milton Keynes shopping centre becomes Grade II listed{{spaced ndash}}The Guardian, 16 July 2010In 1980 Walker was involved with Norman Foster and Frank Newby in a controversial scheme to expand the Whitney Museum in New York City using air rights purchased from nearby properties to build a mixed-use skyscraper which would include a new wing for the museum. When a furore developed, the museum denied it had solicited the team.The Whitney Museum repulses Norman Foster's first assault on New York, 1980. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051105010859weblink |date=5 November 2005 }}He ran the architecture course at the Royal College of Art between 1984 and 1990.WEB, Derek Walker obituary,weblink The Guardian, 8 August 2015, 22 May 2015, Walker was the architect for the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, a £42.5million project which opened to the public in 1996.WEB, THE MUSEUM IN LEEDS,weblink Royal Armouries, 18 May 2015,

Academic Posts

• Professor of Architecture and Design, Royal College of Art, LondonWEB, Derek Walker: Architect whose greatest achievement was serving as the chief designer of Milton Keynes, the 'Forest City',weblink The Independent, 30 April 2020, 15 May 2015,
• Visiting Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
• University of Southern CaliforniaWEB, Derek Walker obituary,weblink The Guardian, 30 April 2020, 22 May 2015,
• University of Pennsylvania

Personal life

Walker was born on 15 June 1929 in Blackburn, Lancashire,WEB, DEREK WALKER: Former Chief Architect and Planning Officer for Milton Keynes has passed away,weblink MK Web, 18 May 2015, 12 May 2015, however he and his family moved to Leeds in West Yorkshire when he was very young. He was first married to the artist Jill Messenger; they had two sons.WEB,weblink Derek Walker: Architect whose greatest achievement was serving as the chief designer of Milton Keynes, the 'Forest City', The Independent, He was married secondly and his third wife was Eve Happold.WEB, Financial Times, Architect of Milton Keynes who blended utopia and nostalgia,weblink Euro 2day, 18 May 2015, 13 May 2015, Walker was a lifelong sports fanatic with a passion for cricket, and was a supporter of Leeds United FC.{{ref?|date=May 2015}}

Notable projects

{{Refimprove section|date=January 2018}}

Derek Walker Associates

• Housing Association, Newton Garth, Leeds 1968/69WEB, Newton Garth, new housing,weblink Leodis, 8 August 2015,
• Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds 1996
• Extensive renovations of the Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong
• The Whitney Museum extension in New York, with Sir Norman Foster
• Kowloon Park Hong Kong including Olympic Pools, Sports hall, Piazza, Sculpture walk and Chinese garden
• New Equine Training Facility for Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club at Shatin
• Master Plan for New City of Jubail in Saudi Arabia
• The Lijnbaan covered Shopping Precinct, City of Rotterdam
• Central Business District for New City of Jubail, Saudi Arabia{{spaced ndash}}Masterplan
• The Wonderworld Themepark and Related Industries proposal for a {{convert|1000|acre|km2|sing=on}} site Corby
• Clarence Dock{{spaced ndash}}Masterplan mixed-use development, Leeds
• Telluride Year Round Resort Masterplan Colorado USA
• Commodores Point mixed use Development and Marina, Jacksonville, Florida{{spaced ndash}}Masterplan
• Museum of British History{{spaced ndash}}a proposal for the St Bartholomew's Hospital site London
• Ushiku{{spaced ndash}}Masterplan for a city of 100,000 people Ushiku, Japan
• "Xanadu"{{spaced ndash}}an unrealised {{convert|2000000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} mixed use Leisure Development Rotherham Lancashire
• National Museum of the United States Army Washington DC{{spaced ndash}}Concept and Detailed Design
• "Golden Eye for Blackpool"{{spaced ndash}}a proposed Second Gateway Covered Leisure Facility and Mixed Use Development

Milton Keynes Development Corporation

• Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre, Milton Keynes
• The City Park and Sculpture Park for Central Milton Keynes

Publications

• The Great Engineers: The Art of British Engineers 1837–1987. {{ISBN|0-85670-917-4}}.
• Happold: The Confidence to Build. {{ISBN|0-419-24060-8}}.
• Animated Architecture.
• Derek Walker Associates "'The View from Great Linford' Monograph" {{ISBN|978-1-85490-282-5}}
• 'Los Angeles Profile Architectural Design Magazine with USC 1982"
• Structural Engineering Design in Practice. With Roger Westbrook.
• The Royal Armouries The Making of a Museum. With Guy Wilson {{ISBN|0-948092-26-2}}.
• New Towns (Architectural Design, No 111). With Maggie Toy.
• AD Milton keynes 1.2.3 Volumes Profiles Architectural Magazine 1973-4-5.
• The Architecture and Planning of Milton Keynes {{ISBN|0851397352}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre
• Living Archive Interview

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