News

BALT’s trip to the Czech Republic will take place in late June following the BALT Board meeting and related activities in London on Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20. The trip will begin with a private visit to the Strahov Monastery followed by a welcome cocktail reception and dinner at Kampa Park Restaurant. In addition to seeing multiple sites in Prague, our trip will include day trips to Brno and Plzeň (Pilsen). Brno is the Czech Republic’s second largest city and the historical capital of Moravia. For several centuries Brno has been a prosperous mercantile and trading hub for Central Europe and the city was an important center of modernist architecture in the late 1920s. We will see iconic modern works by such architects as Mies van der Rohe, Adolf Loos, and Jože Plečnik as well as important historic sites as well. Prague’s architecture is spectacular. Many architectural gems from the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque era remain intact as the city was not rebuilt like many European capital cities during the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

February 2025

With sadness we share the news that Wendy Fish, Director of the British Architectural Library at the Royal Institute of British Architects from 2012 to 2022, recently passed away.

Wendy’s early career was spent at the V&A National Art Library where she worked from 1984 to 1996, becoming its Information Services Manager. Her next organisation was the Wellcome Trust where, in the world-leading Library there, she led its User Services from 1996 to 2009. Wendy joined RIBA in 2010, and during her time with the organisation and in addition to the Library and Collections, Public Programmes, Learning, and Development each for a time fell within her remit. She will be particularly remembered for all the hard work which led to the opening of the Clore Learning Centre at 66 Portland Place in 2019. After leaving RIBA in 2022, Wendy served on the Glasgow School of Art Museum & Archive Committee and the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain board.

Outside of RIBA, Wendy was a season ticket holder at the Emirates and enjoyed cheering on her beloved Arsenal through their ups and downs. She was with husband Andy for the past 22 years and enjoyed travelling with him to her favourite spots, in particular the Isles of Scilly.

Wendy was a kind and generous colleague, and a strong supporter of the RIBA Library and the organisation’s wider cultural work during and after her time with RIBA. She will be greatly missed.