David Hugo (1958–2013)

School of Design Lecturer Michael Windle remembers David Hugo, Model-making Assistant in Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art.

I first met David in 1989 when we both had studios with the Delfina Studio Trust in Stratford, East London.

David had left the Royal College of Art and been with Delfina for two years by the time I joined.

Around this period he had also become a studio assistant for Eduardo Paolozzi (and years later was amazed to see the reconstruction in the Dean Gallery of the pieces he knew so well).

In Stratford, David had amassed a huge array of industrial machinery, blagged from markets and skips around Hackney, and was producing a dazzling collection of sculpture, with twisted metal and diodes and lacquer.

David’s studio was always open and became a hub for other resident artists.

His confidence and energy was infectious and generous, and he was always available for advice and sympathy.

It was this spirit that made David such a welcome presence at Edinburgh College of Art. I’ve lost count of the number of students I have sent to him over the years for help with design and engineering problems.

His brisk imagination was an asset to us all.

David's arrival as technician in the Architecture School at Edinburgh College of Art in 2004 saw an explosion in creativity. The quality and diversity of models and all manner of art objects produced by students increased enormously as David did his utmost to help them realise their conceptions.

Notes

This obituary will appear in the autumn edition of Bulletin.