AWARD-WINNING architect, accomplished artist and always the frontiersman, Barrie Briscoe, who died last week, will be greatly missed by his many friends.

Architecture, art, humour and a fierce and free individualism were the threads that wove the fabric of Barrie's rich and varied life.

As a boy he moved from England to Canada with his family and after school, as a 16 year old, he went into the wilds of Alberta, working at the tough end of oil drilling, and then to Australia where he laboured on the railroads, on farms and in mining.

These early experiences gave Barrie a lifelong respect and admiration for the artisan and working man and a healthy disrespect for cant and humbug in all its forms. It also shaped his quirky and ribald sense of fun, cowboy humour as his wife Petra calls it, which was never far away in any time spent with Barrie. Asked one time where a friend had gone, Barrie's response was: "Went for a dump and the hog's musta got him!"

Scholarship

Returning to Canada he studied petro-chemical engineering, winning a scholarship to Washington State University where he transferred his talents to the study of architecture, in tandem with studying modern painting at art faculty. Graduating from there, he pursued his architectural studies at the University of Pennsylvania, becoming a Master of Architecture and then went on take an MA in architecture and city planning at Yale, graduating in 1966.

He began working for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in New York and started his own practice in Toronto. He spent a few years making large scale graphic murals before moving to the UK.

He spent some time teaching drawing at the University of Edinburgh, then took up a post at Sheffield University teaching architecture. He moved to Cornwall in 1974.

Barrie had always practised art and architecture hand in hand.

There are more than 100 fine examples of his architectural work in Cornwall and beyond, including award-winning buildings at St Ives, Zennor and Penzance that stand testament to his creative and particular design talents.

Barrie's architecture combined traditional design skills with modernist and green principles. In west Cornwall he developed a signature style that always made the most of the sun and the views, that respected the local tradition, but were unmistakably contemporary. He loved to use craftsmanship in the execution as well as the design of buildings. Often he gave his clients a present of a stained glass window which he had made himself.

He has exhibited his paintings here in Cornwall, France, Italy and Scandinavia, and there is an exhibition of his work beginning on November 6 at Badcocks Gallery in Newlyn. He drew his inspiration from the landscapes around him with a collection of works reflecting his time here in Cornwall, in Brittany where he once lived, and latterly in Italy around their home near the shores of Lake Trasimeno. A lyrical painter, sensitive with the use of colour and shade, his work was a true and moving response to the sense of peace and inspiration Barrie found in the natural world around him.

In his last days some of his work adorned the walls of his room at St Julia's Hospice. Talking about them, Barrie mused: "Pity I haven't got another 10 years, I coulda gotten really good!"

And reflecting on what was inevitable and his thoughts about that, with his typical brand of humour, he said: "Hey, everyone wants to have one more kick of the cat, don't they?"

His was a life of creative achievement, but beyond that endeavour Barrie loved to spend time with his friends over a decent meal and a couple of bottles of reasonable wine.

Quirky

He had his own quirky, eclectic tastes, enjoying country and western music hand in hand with Beethoven, French vehicles of a certain vintage and in the early days big hair and a beard that would have qualified him as a fully paid up member of the Furry Freak Brothers. He was always good company, always good fun, always up for it. Challenging, funny and energetic, if things got too serious he could always get it back on the right course.

"I guess I'll just fly away with the birds," he told us when he knew time was running out.

Barrie is to be laid to rest tomorrow, Friday September 3, at 3pm at Tremenheere Gardens, between Gulval and Ludgvan (www.tremenheere.co.uk) and there will be a get together later at the PZ Gallery, Coinagehall Street, Penzance. All are welcome at both events; his wish was for no black to be worn, and in lieu of flowers, donations to ShelterBox or Water Aid. Petra and his friends would like to thank all the staff at St Julia's Hospice for the wonderful care they gave Barrie.