New Zealand’s architectural community sadly farewells Marilyn Reynolds (née Hart), who passed away on Monday 31 August 2015 at 88 years of age. Marilyn was one of the founding members of the famed Group constituency in 1946, and was a long-standing and respected member of the architectural profession.

Marilyn was one of the first women to study architecture at The University of Auckland in the 1940s and, after the second World War, she worked alongside husband Ian Reynolds in architecture firms in both London and Coventry, England. In the 1950s, Ian and Marilyn returned to New Zealand where they had six children, amongst them architect Amanda Reynolds and architectural photographer Patrick Reynolds. In the mid-fifties, the Reynolds family lived and worked in Wellington and were both involved in the Architectural Centre.

Marilyn retained her passion for architecture throughout her life, with a special interest in architectural solutions to social issues, and authored key texts on the subject. In 1976, she wrote Woman’s World: Houses and Suburbs with Stephanie Bonny, a defining work on the intersection of women and architecture. In 1980, she followed this up with Living with 50 Architects, A New Zealand Perspective. In her work with the Society for Research on Women, she also produced several research booklets on the housing of the elderly.

Marilyn was forward-thinking in terms of the benefits of apartment living and enjoyed her later years living in one of Auckland’s historic city buildings overlooking the Waitemata Harbour. Marilyn describes herself as ”odder than most” and she retained her feisty character and clear conversation skills to the end.

Our condolences go to the family and friends of Marilyn. Over the years she has made a great impact on the architectural community in New Zealand and she will be greatly missed.

An insightful interview with Marilyn Reynolds, her daughter, architect and urban planner Amanda Reynolds, and architect Jane Matthews can be found on the Architecture + Women•NZ website.