The AA is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former tutor Jonathan Park. This obituary is provided by Deborah Loth, a long-term friend of Jonathan’s -

Jonathan Park and I were introduced by the sculptor Barry Flanagan in the mid 80s. Jonathan had come to London with a Cambridge degree in mechanical sciences in 1964. His day job as an engineer with Ove Arup and Partners, and later Arup Associates, did not prevent his enthusiastic participation in London’s 60s counterculture and arts scene. In 1969 he became a part-time structures tutor at the Architectural Association and started working with Moonrock, a radical children’s workshop, staging multimedia events at the Roundhouse in London’s Camden Town. In the early 70s he formed a partnership with ex-Arup architect Dominic Michaelis which designed conversions, steel-and-glass houses and the world’s first working solar-powered balloon. By the mid 70s, while working as a freelance engineer, he took over the AA’s diploma technical studies department. In 1976 he found himself sharing an office there with Mark Fisher. And the rest, as they say, is rock ‘n’ roll history.

That year Mark and Jonathan built a set of inflatable sculptures for Pink Floyd's 'Animals' tour and in 1979 they designed the Pink Floyd arena show 'The Wall'. In 1984 they formed the Fisher Park partnership, which was best known for the artistically and technically innovative concert stages it designed for A-list performers like Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, George Michael, The Rolling Stones and U2. Fisher Park’s portable architecture projects include many of the most complex stadium rock shows ever toured. In 1994 the Fisher Park partnership was dissolved.

In the years after Fisher Park, Jonathan worked on a number of shows and projects, perhaps most notably the light installation which is the highlight of the Landschaftspark Duisberg Nord, a 180-hectare park incorporating industrial heritage, nature and a spectacle of light. For many years he divided his time between London and his house in Connemara in Ireland.

I worked at Fisher Park along with Jonathan in the last five years of the partnership, and on a few projects in the years after. He could be driven and difficult but was always extremely creative and generous to a fault, with seemingly boundless energy, endless inventiveness and an immense drive to be working. It’s hard to imagine he’s finally stopped.

The work of Mark Fisher and Jonathan Park continues to be celebrated annually at the AA though the Mark Fisher Scholarship, established in 2015. The scholarship supports students of exceptional talent and interest in the intersection of architecture, performance, media and engineering. Find out more about the Mark Fisher Scholarship