Colin St John “Sandy” Wilson (1922-2007), one of the key figures in British architecture over the last century, has proven immeasurably influential not only as an architect but also as a writer, a teacher and patron. He is most famous for designing the British Library in King’s Cross, London. Referred to as the “thirty-year war” project due to its epic length, the building eventually opened in 1998, and Wilson was given a knighthood in the same year. Wilson’s architectural education began at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and ended at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London in 1949 after the interruption of the Second World War. Subsequently he went to work at the London County Council architect departments for five years, alongside many of the great architects of the 20th century including Leslie Martin, James Stirling and Alison and Peter Smithson. During this time he was part of the Independent Group and exhibited in the “This is Tomorrow” exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery. Wilson returned to teach at Cambridge in 1956 and retained a position there until his death. His last building, the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, was completed with Long & Kentish (of whom his second wife Mary Jane Long was a founding partner) in 2006. He donated more than 400 artworks from his own collection to the gallery, by artists including Eduardo Paolozzi, Peter Blake, Patrick Caulfield, Lucian Freud and Walter Sickert. For other architect profiles, see: our Directory of Architects and Designers