Renowned Jamaican architect, Herbert Denham Repole passed away on the 1st November 2011 - days before his 77th birthday.
Denny, as he was affectionately known, was the recipient of numerous national and regional honours and awards, including the Order of Distinction, Commander Class (C.D.) in 2003. Much of his work in the 1960s helped, especially in the New Kingston area helped to define both culturally and physically the landscape of a newly independent Jamaica, moreover his monuments to Paul Bogle and William Gordon remind us to have courage and hope. He was one of the forebearers of the Caribbean School of Architecture - serving both in an advisorial and teaching capacity.
3 comments:
Such kind words. I really enjoy the blog.
He was a very talented man! RIP and may peace be with his family.
I am just hearing this for the first time. Denny was close friends with John Coke, the man who brought me to Jamaica where I lived, worked and taught for 7 years. He and I were both with John in the final days before he passed.
Denny's ability to sustain humor and critical analysis for the many years he operated his design firm was truly exceptional. I would visit him there after hours and was on occasion joined by Nadine Issacs. I recall the stories he told me including John Coke vanishing into the Jamaican jungle on the North Coast to design the next great building. John emerged 6 days later, unshowered, with a sketchbook full of renderings of moths.
Denny set a standard for others to follow and assisted, along with Nadine, with the removal of an unnamed instructor whose agenda did not fit well with the UTECH philosophy. For this I was grateful.
Denny was my friend. He is sorely missed.
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