It is with great sorrow that we learn of the passing of former AA tutor David Bernstein who has died aged 80 following a short battle with cancer.
David Bernstein was born in New York in 1937. He first read architecture at the University of Cincinnati, before studying under Louis Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1964 he moved to London with his wife Beverly, initially intending only to stay for a year. In reality, they never returned to the US, together making a significant contribution to architectural education and social housing in the UK. They first worked at the AA, Beverly as a senior registrar and David teaching.
Alongside his teaching role, David worked under William Whitfield and then Patrick Hodgkinson, where he met David Levitt whilst designing the iconic Brunswick Centre. In 1968 the two Davids established architectural practice, Levitt Bernstein, and Housing Association, Circle 33. The pair led both organisations until 1974, when they left Circle 33 and dedicated all of their time to Levitt Bernstein. Here, David Bernstein led a huge range of projects, from the refurbishment of the ICA to a great many social housing projects across the capital for the likes of Peabody Trust, Metropolitan Housing Trust and Tower Hamlets Housing Action Trust. He was also keenly involved in all aspects of running the practice, later taking the role of Managing Director. He was always modest and created a culture within the Practice that put people first – both staff and the users of the spaces designed.
Some of Bernstein’s most significant projects include the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester (1976) – a futuristic seven-sided theatre in the round; Hart Hill Lane (1977) – a development of flats for the elderly and ten family homes in Luton; and the Gateway Centre in Southwark (1993) – a scheme of 58 flats for young people, 32 ‘move-on’ flats and a job/training centre.
The Levitt Bernstein’s website remembers him as: ‘Kind, light-hearted and full of integrity, David remained a father figure for many of us long after his retirement and we will miss him dearly. The culture and ethos we all cherish here today is thanks so much to his wonderful, open and compassionate sensibility.’
Since 2012 David worked closely with the AA to establish and to award annually a prize in memory of his wife Beverly, with generous support of many friends and family. The Beverly Bernstein Prize is run by the AA’s postgraduate programme in Housing and Urbanism, in recognition of Beverly’s involvement with the school and of her life-long interest and specialisation in housing and development planning.
A week before his death he published a book of his short stories titled Growing Pains and Senior Moments.
Image courtesy Levitt Bernstein