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Bristol professor honoured with blue plaque
Almost exactly seven years after his death, Professor Richard Gregory’s work has been recognised with a blue plaque at the Bristol café which inspired his most famous work.
Gregory, who was emeritus professor of neuropsychology at the University of Bristol before his death in 2010, is most well-known for his discovery of the ‘café wall illusion‘. The external tiling on what is now Workhouse Kitchen, at the bottom of St Michael’s Hill, is a simple optical illusion that typified Gregory’s interest in vision and the psychology of how we see.
Seeking to help others to understand the complexity of explaining such illusions, Professor Gregory was also instrumental in setting up The Exploratory science centre, the precursor to At-Bristol.
is needed now More than ever
The café wall illusion in situ on St Michael’s Hill
The unveiling ceremony was attended by the lord mayor of Bristol, and went off without a hitch in the afternoon sunshine.
“We could’ve put the plaque where Richard lived, outside of his office, or in lots of other places,” said Iain Gilchrist, neuropsychology professor at the University of Bristol. “But by putting it here, where the illusion is, it means that there is a connection.
“People can come here, they can see the illusion, they’ll see the plaque and maybe they’ll understand just a little bit of Richard’s enthusiasm for illusions and psychology,” he continued.
As an homage to this, an optical illusion showing Professor Gregory’s own face was on display at the unveiling event. Despite being a hollow image, the brain struggles to process what it is seeing as the eyes move around, and it appears to pop out into the room.
Following the unveiling, Workhouse Kitchen filled up with Professor Gregory’s friends, family and former colleagues, who were keen to acknowledge his crucial contribution to academia.
He was described as a source of inspiration by many of the guests at the plaque unveiling ceremony, and it was clear that Professor Gregory’s legacy is sure to be continued through his trainees and their work.
Chris Stone, a research associate at the University of Bristol said: “It was an amazing privilege to work for him. I didn’t realise the extent of that privilege until much later, when I realised just how much he’d informed my thinking. Not just in the work I do, but in life generally.’’
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