John Maxwell Hutchinson (born 3 December 1948[1]) is an English architect and broadcaster.
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He was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire to Frank Maxwell Hutchinson and his wife Elizabeth Ross (née Wright) and went to school in Northamptonshire at Wellingborough Prep School and the independent Oundle School. He studied architecture at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture in Aberdeen and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in Bedford Square, London, gaining a diploma from the latter in 1972. He joined the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1972.
In 1972, he founded Hutchinson & Partners. In 1993, he founded The Hutchinson Studio Architects. He was president of RIBA from 1989 to 1991. From 1987-9, he was Chairman of the Industrial Building Bureau (based in Hemel Hempstead). From 1990-2, he was vice-Chairman of the Construction Industry Council.
He is a practising architect of buildings including the following, all of which are in London, England:
He was also a visiting Professor at the University of Westminster (1998-2000) and previously at the University of Nottingham (1993-6) and Queen's University Belfast (1989-93).
Following his experience of the Boxing day Tsunami of 2004, Hutchinson founded the architectural charity Article 25. He currently sits on the Board of Trustees and is heavily involved in the fundraising side of the charity. In October 2009, Hutchinson will be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon with the proceeds going towards Article 25's projects throughout the world.
Hutchinson is also a regular television broadcaster, being the best known broadcasting architect in the UK. He wrote and presented three series for the Discovery Channel on architecture, engineering and science, and worked on BBC Two's First Sight and Restoration Nation.
He has also presented Channel Four's Demolition Detectives, and wrote and presented No 57, The History of A House. He has also contributed to Carlton Television's The Good, The Bad and The Listed as well as Anglia Television's Hidden Heritage and on BBC Yorkshire's Inside Out programme. Her was the local presenter for London for the BBC's Man-Made Wonders series in 2006. On 7 June 2009, he presented a Songs of Praise about the architecture of Trafalgar Square, meeting Ralph McTell and Bruce Kent.
Hutchinson is also a regular contributor to BBC Radio Four, as well as BBC Two's Newsnight, Robert Elms' show on BBC London 94.9 (on Tuesdays) and various programmes on LBC radio. On BBC2, he presented How to Rescue a House, now seen on UKTV Style.
He also played guitar for some time for Lene Lovich. He was caught up in the 2004 Boxing day Tsunami, and from this he launched the charity Architects For Aid (A4A). He is a churchwarden of the Our Most Holy Redeemer Church on Exmouth Market in Clerkenwell. He plays the piano, and composes music. He is married.