Drew, Dame Jane Beverly

▪ 1997

      British architect (b. March 24, 1911, Thornton Heath, Surrey, Eng.—d. July 27, 1996, Cotherstone, Durham, Eng.), paid lavish attention to the harmony of design with the environment, a characteristic that made her one of Great Britain's best-loved architects. Especially during her partnership with her second husband, Maxwell Fry, she specialized in providing innovative large-scale town planning for tropical countries. Drew studied at the Architectural Association School, London, and became a member of the Modern Architectural Research Group. It was through that group that she met Fry. They were married in 1942, and their partnership lasted until his death in 1987. Among their many global projects were schools, universities, and hospitals in West Africa, notably the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Their best-known work was the design for Chandigarh, the new capital of Punjab, India, on which Drew persuaded the Swiss architect Le Corbusier to collaborate. Drew's other projects included the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; the School for the Deaf, Herne Hill, London; and the Open University, Milton Keynes, Eng. She wrote such books as Architecture for Children (1944; with Fry), Village Housing in the Tropics (1947; with Fry and Harry L. Ford), and Tropical Architecture in the Humid Zone (1956; with Fry) and contributed articles to architectural journals. Drew was the first woman to serve on the Council of the Royal Institute of British Architects and was a lifelong fellow. She was created DBE in 1996.

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