Ian Ritchie - biography

Professor Ian Ritchie CBE is a British architect. He was born in 1947 in Sussex. After working with Norman Foster (1972–76), Ritchie spent two years in France designing and constructing projects. In 1979 he founded Chrysalis Architects and also worked at Arup’s Lightweight Structures Group in London. In 1981 he created Ian Ritchie Architects in London, and co-founded the design engineering firm Rice Francis Ritchie (RFR) with Peter Rice and Martin Francis in Paris. Before leaving RFR in 1989, this practice had been responsible for major projects in Paris including the Bioclimatic Façades at la Villette Cité des Sciences, and the Louvre Pyramids and Sculpture Courts with I M Pei. Building Design has described him as "an architect prepared to break with convention."