(b Durban, 20 Sept 1924). South African architect and urban planner. He studied architecture (1942–8) at the University of Cape Town, then worked (1951–2) for Ivar Tengbom in Stockholm. Fox returned to South Africa in 1952 and set up a variety of partnerships first in Worcester and later Cape Town. He first concentrated on domestic buildings that express a clear personal aesthetic, with their attention to detailing and adaptation to the environment. The Wilson house (1954), Worcester, and La Cock house (1961), Cape Town, among others, are functional in nature but with visual references to the traditional domestic architecture of South Africa. His interest in housing traditions became the basis of his involvement in the restoration of Cape Dutch homes, for example Rust en Vreugd, Cape Town (1961). He also worked on housing projects, for example Montebello Apartments (1968), Newlands, and contributed to low-income, as well as emergency, shelter and core housing, for example Expandable Starter Units (1978), Valhalla Park, Cape Province. His larger public buildings, such as the BP Centre (1973), Cape Town, and Bank City (1994), Johannesburg, are notable for the same attention to detail as his domestic work, particularly with respect to function and environmental context. As an urban planner, Fox worked on a number of major projects, including the Durban Beach and City Redevelopment (1988), and as a consultant on urban and rural projects throughout Southern Africa. He received a number of architectural awards, including the Gold Medal of the South African Institute of Architects (1977), and he played an important role as a teacher and lecturer at universities in South Africa and abroad.

• Fox, Revel (Albert Ellis)
  • Cape Town
  • Durban
  • South Africa, §III, 4: Architecture, after 1945