Obituary of G.W.Terry Rankine

G. W. TERRY RANKINE, of South Thomaston, Maine, FAIA, RIBA, on Sunday March 3, 2013, in Portland, Maine at the age of 86. Terry was born in Dunfirmline, Scotland on January 5, 1927, where his life-long love of reading began at the Carnegie Library. Like many children of his generation he was fascinated with aviation, the great ships of the age and was an avid model builder and mischief maker. In 1943 he attended The School of Architecture, at Edinburgh College of Art. His studies were interrupted by service in the Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm), where he was trained in aircrew until V-J Day, then finished his naval service as a meteorologist. On returning to his studies he graduated with degrees in Architecture and Town and Country Planning in 1952. In 1953 he married Dorothy Forrest of Edinburgh, Scotland, a fellow student at Edinburgh College of Art. Terry worked as a planner in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, and London, England, before moving to Quebec, Canada in 1955. In 1958 he joined the firm The Architects Collaborative (TAC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1962 Terry left TAC to become one of the seven founding partners of Cambridge Seven Associates (C7A). This particular collaboration was one of the first times that an interdisciplinary practice involving all the visual arts: Film, Urban Design, Architecture, Interiors, Exhibit and Graphic Design and Planning was formed to comprehensively undertake design projects for the built environment. Its early notable projects included: Design Guidelines for the Massachusetts Transportation Authority, The US Pavilion at EXPO’67, and the New England Aquarium. During his 30 plus years at C7A, he was the partner in charge of over forty diverse projects around the globe. Most notable included the US Pavilion at EXPO’67, Interiors for the DC-10, USS Nautilus Museum for the Navy, MBTA Porter Square Subway Station, the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center, North Carolina Museum of History, and a Tourism Master Plan for Stirling, Scotland. He led corporate projects for Arthur D Little and United Technologies and academic projects for numerous colleges including: Smith College, Williams College, Carlton College, Wellesley College, Bowdoin College, the University of Massachusetts, University of Maine, Brown University, and Tabor Academy. In addition to his leadership at Cambridge Seven Associates, he was very active in local and national activities of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He was a Fellow in the AIA, and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He served as President of both the Boston Society of Architects and Massachusetts State AIA, and as a national AIA Board Member on numerous committees. He was a member of a task force that traveled to Scott Base, McMurdo Station in Antarctica. He also taught at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and the Boston Architectural College, and he served on numerous juries and reviews. Terry withdrew from C7A in 1992 to live year round in South Thomaston, Maine. He became active on the boards of the Owl’s Head Transportation Museum, Owl’s Head, Maine, and Northeast Historic Film, Bucksport, Maine. Terry may have grown old in years but never in spirit and exercised his curiosity to the end. Apart from his love of design and history, his great enthusiasm was flying and soaring; he owned various airplanes and sailplanes for many years and earned his private pilot and instrument ratings. He never lost his Scottish accent. Besides unfinished books and projects, he leaves behind his wife of fifty-nine years, Dorothy (Forrest) of South Thomaston, Maine, his son Symon Rankine of Brunswick, Maine, his daughter Lesley (Piper) Rankine, son in law Paul Sanni and grandson August (Gus) Rankine Sanni of Wakefield Massachusetts, and his sister Christine Wishart (Rankine) of Dunfermline, Scotland. By his request there will be no services. Memorial donations can be made to a pet shelter or appropriate charity of your choosing.