Lillian Chrystall

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Lillian Chrystall

OBE
Born
Lillian Jessie Laidlaw

(1926-03-01)1 March 1926
Auckland, New Zealand
Died24 February 2022(2022-02-24) (aged 95)
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
OccupationArchitect
PracticeChrystall Architects
RelativesRobert Laidlaw (father)

Lillian Jessie Chrystall OBE (née Laidlaw; 1 March 1926 – 24 February 2022) was a New Zealand architect.[1] She was the first woman to receive a national New Zealand Institute of Architects award.[2]

Biography[]

Chrystall was born in the Auckland suburb of Herne Bay on 1 March 1926, one of three children of businessman Robert Laidlaw and American-born Lillian Viola Irene Laidlaw (née Watson).[2][3][4] One of her brothers was Lincoln Laidlaw, who founded the New Zealand toy manufacturing company, Lincoln Industries.[1][5] She was raised in Herne Bay, and was educated at Bayfield School and Auckland Girls' Grammar School.[1] She studied architecture at the University of Auckland and after graduating was appointed the School of Architecture's first woman instructor.[1] From 1950 to 1954, Chrystall worked in England and France, then returned to New Zealand and started her own architecture practice, Lillian Laidlaw Architects. In the late 1950s, her husband joined the practice and the business was re-named Chrystall Architects.[1][2]

Chrystall also served on community organisations and was a founding member of the Auckland Zonta Club.[6] She was the first woman on the Board of Trustees at the Auckland Savings Bank (ASB) and in 1983 became the first female president of the ASB Board.[2][6][7]

Recognition[]

In 1967 Chrystall won a Bronze Medal from the New Zealand Institute of Architects for the Yock House in Ngāpuhi Road, Remuera, which she had designed in 1964.[2] In 2013 she received an Enduring Architecture Award in the Auckland Architecture Awards for the same building.[8] Architecture + Women New Zealand named one of their annual excellence awards, the Chrystall Excellence Award, in her honour.[9]

In the 1989 New Year Honours, Chrystall was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for public services.[2][6][10]

Personal life[]

Chrystall married David Chrystall, also an architect.[1] The couple had three children.[6] She died on 24 February 2022, at the age of 95.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Mid-century gem by pioneering female architect Lillian Chrystall up for sale". Stuff. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "A+W NZ Interview with Lillian Chrystall | Architecture + Women NZ". www.architecturewomen.org.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Births". Auckland Star. Vol. 57, no. 51. 2 March 1926. p. 1. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  4. ^ International Press Who's Who N.Z. Wellington: National Magazines. 1938. pp. 280–281.
  5. ^ Traue, J. E., ed. (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand (11th ed.). Wellington: Reed. p. 165. ISBN 0-589-01113-8.
  6. ^ a b c d "Prominent Member History: Lillian Chrystal". Zonta International District 16. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  7. ^ "ASB Bank | Business History | Timeline". www.businesshistory.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  8. ^ "NZIA Auckland Region awards announced". Architecture Now. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Chrystall Excellence Award | Architecture + Women NZ". architecturewomen.org.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  10. ^ "No. 51580". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 31 December 1988. p. 34.
  11. ^ "Lillian Chrystall obituary". The New Zealand Herald. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
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