Projects

Early important projects with major responsibility in Partnership.
Large scale Town Centre restoration and reconstruction in the Canongate, Edinburgh for the City of Edinburgh, and in Old Aberdeen for the University of Aberdeen, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
New buildings: Hydro-Electric Power Stations, Control and Switching stations, for the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board; Primary school, Kyle of Lochalsh. Many castle restorations including Aboyne, Muckrach, Rossend. Work with Thomas Gehrig (Munich) on the "Six Bells", Kings Road London was very stimulating and developed a fine friendship.

Important projects under own name.
The St. Mungo Museum of Comparative Religion at Glasgow Cathedral Square, and the Radisson/SAS Hotel, formerly the Scandic Crown Hotel, Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Hopetoun House (with Raymond Muszynski), Ravens'Craig, Plockton (own tower-house). Lyndale House, (restoration) and Crionach House (New), Isle of Skye. Law Castle and Couston Castle, both restorations. The Secret Garden at the Witchery Restaurant, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh which is one of the top restaurants in the City.

A constant fighter for maintenance and recognition of both the Old Town and the New Town of Edinburgh. Lived in both at different times and children went to school in Old Edinburgh. Appointed Interim Director of Edinburgh New Town Conservation Committee when founded, and later, Interim Director of Edinburgh Old Town Committee for Conservation and Renewal.
Both these sites are now amalgamated as a World Heritage Site. Recent proposals (2008) under the title Caltongate, thankfully now dropped would have been disastrous for the Old Town. The scale of the architecture and character was so wrong for the site. Edinburgh must be much more aware of the great value of the architecture of the city. In old Edinburgh, I am an enthusiastic supporter of the local group 'SOOT' Save Our Old Town!

Several projects are of immediate interest. The first is building a Scottish Castle in China. This is a new winery and Chateau, part of a completely new vineyard in Shandong Province in NE China. Drawings were shown in the R.S.A. in Princes Street Edinburgh in 2006. The work is on site and entering the finishing stages. The work should be completed by summer 2009 with a grand opening in October. The second was an invitation to be a panel/presenter at an International Symposium; Cultural Landscapes, Cultural Towns; held in New Harmony, Indiana USA, (related to New Lanark) This took place in November 2008 and tackled the crisis that has hit small towns all over mid America. The towns are dying. Much closer to home, I have two private houses at Planning stage. One is a traditional Scots house on a beautiful west-coast site. The other is an informal timber split level house with winter garden and green roof among trees poised over a rock-face again on the west-coast

Other Areas of interest

Very interested in the Neolithic Scottish carved stone Balls. These, which are acknowledged to "show a sophistication in their grasp of forms that rivals that of the Greek mathematicians of 1,500 years later", (Colin Renfrew, Prof. Archaeology) almost certainly have a significance that is not yet appreciated. The individual person experimenting with solid geometry is possibly directly connected to our understanding of the earliest Scottish architecture. qv.

Strong interest in other arts. Published "The Drawings of Sydney Goodsir Smith, Poet" Collected by Ian Begg. Also took part several years running in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of a group giving readings from Scottish poetry, novels and illustrating drawing and painting.

Apart from many contributions to several journals on Architecture and Edinburgh, Published "A Guide to the New Town of Edinburgh" 1967 (Bicentenary of New Town). Contributed a chapter on Muckrach Castle in the book "Restoring Scotland's Castles" pub. John Smith, Glasgow University Bookshop; and the most important published piece on architecture is the contribution to the quality Japanese Magazine "a+u" Nov. 1997. Also see, please, "L'Information Immobilieere No. 68 Printemps 1999 piece in French. Recently I have produced several maps as illustrations for books. One book just published by Canongate is Margaret Elphinstine's "Light" and others, by Canongate are Mary Contini's "Dear Olivia" which had several maps and a family tree, and a map of Central America for "Jungle Capitalists" by Peter Chapman, published in the USA.

My home, the house Ravens'Craig appears in the 'Coffee Table' book "Living in the Highlands" Published by Thames and Hudson 2000.

Received a commendation in the Prix Européen d'Architecture Philippe Rotthier 2005.



The picture shows Ian (centre) with Architect Maurice Culot and Architect Philippe Rotthier atThe Fondation pour l'Architecture , Brussels Nov 2005.



Here is a short film clip from 1973.