Richard Rogers (1933-2021) was born in Florence, son of William Nino Rogers and cousin of Italian architect Ernesto Rogers. The family moved back to UK in 1939 and after leaving school, Richard did a basic course at Uni for the Creative Arts, then National Service. He went to Architectural Association School in London (1954-9), then a master's degree from Yale School of Architecture (1962).
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High-tech architecture focused on creating flexible buildings in choice of materials, internal structural elements and programmatic design. It sought to avoid associations to the past, and thus avoided building materials used in older architecture. Common elements included factory aesthetics, overhanging floors, large central space, lack of internal load-bearing walls and reconfigurable spaces.
In his London-based firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Rogers was considered one of the finest architects then and later collected awards eg the Pritzker Architecture Prize. But his early famous buildings were greeted with disbelief, as we’ll see.
His most important and famous building, Centre Pompidou Paris, was co-designed with Italian architect Renzo Piano. Centre Pompidou was essentially built as an inverted museum in 1977: its air conditioning, electrical and plumbing systems were each given a specific colour and displayed outside the building. The structure and mechanical services of the art gallery were visible outside, creating open, flexible interior spaces.
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Front of the Pompidou Centre![]()
Pompidou Centre
structure and mechanical services visible on the exterior of the building
Now the other Rogers sites that I, Helen, was not familiar with, but were noted by Tom Ravenscroft. Designed in partnership with Norman Foster while Rogers was part of Team 4, the Reliance Controls factory in Swindon (1967) was their first high-tech industrial building. Reliance Controls, which had both the factory and offices for precision electronic instruments, provided the hallmark structure of high-tech architecture.
Following Team 4, one of Rogers’ first projects was the parental home in Wimbledon (1969). Rogers designed the home to demonstrate how pre-fabrication could enable homes to be built quickly and affordably i.e a standardised system that could solve Britain’s housing problem. It didn’t, but it certainly led to work which he still did decades later.
At Inmos Microprocessor Factory in Newport Wales (1982), Rogers continued the idea of inside-out architecture. To create the large, column spaces required by the microchip factory, the building's roof was supported by 9 tubular steel towers, positioned along the roof’s centre. Rogers designed the highly-flexible single-storey steel structure as a prefabricated kit, so other similar structures could easily be built.
Built in 1999 to house a London exhibition celebrate the new millennium, Millennium Dome was designed as a giant tent. The 50m high dome in Greenwich was supported from 12 bright yellow towers. Even though it was among the largest structures of its kind anywhere, when 6 million+ people visited the attraction in 2000, it wasn’t viewed as a success and was subsequently converted into a concert venue.
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Millennium Dome, London
The very talented Richard Rogers died at 88 in Dec 2021.
Lloyd's Building, London
Rogers founded his own firm in 1977, accepting some very important projects. Lloyd’s Building in London was built in 1986 as a grand structure that had its architectural elements on its exterior. Built as the headquarters of Lloyd's, a very large insurance firm, the 14-storey office block was wrapped around a central atrium, having its structure and services clearly visible on its exterior. This created flexible office-space inside, keeping the floors clear, and achieving Lloyd's 2 goals: A] a building that would last into the next century and B] a building that could meet their changing needs.
High-tech architecture focused on creating flexible buildings in choice of materials, internal structural elements and programmatic design. It sought to avoid associations to the past, and thus avoided building materials used in older architecture. Common elements included factory aesthetics, overhanging floors, large central space, lack of internal load-bearing walls and reconfigurable spaces.
In his London-based firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Rogers was considered one of the finest architects then and later collected awards eg the Pritzker Architecture Prize. But his early famous buildings were greeted with disbelief, as we’ll see.
His most important and famous building, Centre Pompidou Paris, was co-designed with Italian architect Renzo Piano. Centre Pompidou was essentially built as an inverted museum in 1977: its air conditioning, electrical and plumbing systems were each given a specific colour and displayed outside the building. The structure and mechanical services of the art gallery were visible outside, creating open, flexible interior spaces.
structure and mechanical services visible on the exterior of the building
The building was initially seen as modern ugliness, including by the French newspaper Le Monde, and by me! But by 2021 The New York Times Style Magazine put Centre Pompidou at #16 on its list of the most significant works of post-war architecture, drawing more global attention to both architects and the high-tech movement.
Rogers managed projects that had an explicitly socio-political context. In 1998, the British government invited him to lead an urban task force regarding the national housing crisis. In 2001-8 he became London Mayor Ken Livingstone’s chief advisor on architecture and urbanism.
In his book A Place for All People: Life, Architecture and Fair Society 2017, Rogers wrote he believed that there was more to architecture than architecture. Architecture was inseparable from the social and economic values of the individuals who practised it and the society that sustained it.
Rogers managed projects that had an explicitly socio-political context. In 1998, the British government invited him to lead an urban task force regarding the national housing crisis. In 2001-8 he became London Mayor Ken Livingstone’s chief advisor on architecture and urbanism.
In his book A Place for All People: Life, Architecture and Fair Society 2017, Rogers wrote he believed that there was more to architecture than architecture. Architecture was inseparable from the social and economic values of the individuals who practised it and the society that sustained it.
Now the other Rogers sites that I, Helen, was not familiar with, but were noted by Tom Ravenscroft. Designed in partnership with Norman Foster while Rogers was part of Team 4, the Reliance Controls factory in Swindon (1967) was their first high-tech industrial building. Reliance Controls, which had both the factory and offices for precision electronic instruments, provided the hallmark structure of high-tech architecture.
Following Team 4, one of Rogers’ first projects was the parental home in Wimbledon (1969). Rogers designed the home to demonstrate how pre-fabrication could enable homes to be built quickly and affordably i.e a standardised system that could solve Britain’s housing problem. It didn’t, but it certainly led to work which he still did decades later.
At Inmos Microprocessor Factory in Newport Wales (1982), Rogers continued the idea of inside-out architecture. To create the large, column spaces required by the microchip factory, the building's roof was supported by 9 tubular steel towers, positioned along the roof’s centre. Rogers designed the highly-flexible single-storey steel structure as a prefabricated kit, so other similar structures could easily be built.
Built in 1999 to house a London exhibition celebrate the new millennium, Millennium Dome was designed as a giant tent. The 50m high dome in Greenwich was supported from 12 bright yellow towers. Even though it was among the largest structures of its kind anywhere, when 6 million+ people visited the attraction in 2000, it wasn’t viewed as a success and was subsequently converted into a concert venue.
Rogers' terminal 4 building at Barajas Airport Madrid won his Stirling Prize (2005). Designed in collaboration with Spanish tradition, the terminal was given a bamboo-clad linear roof supported on central columns, brightly coloured to mark the different sections.
In May 2006, Rogers was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of NY’s new World Trade Centre, replacing the old World Trade Centre that had been destroyed in the Sept attacks. And similarly, wanting to have flexible internal space, Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow (2008) was a 396ms long column-free space topped by a curved roof. The freestanding structures housed departure and arrivals areas, bookings, shops and offices were all designed to be dismantled and reconfigured, if requirements changed.
The Hammersmith Maggie's Centre (2008) won Rogers' studio its second Stirling Prize. Designed for cancer-care charity Maggie's, the orange-coloured centre was to be a welcoming space for patients, within the Charing Cross Hospital site, Hammersmith.
Opposite the Lloyd's building in central London, the Leadenhall Building was a wedge-shaped skyscraper (2014). The 224m office tower was designed with a sloped facade so that it didn't interfere with sight lines to St Paul's Cathedral. In 2016 Rogers' 200-strong studio moved into the building.
In May 2006, Rogers was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of NY’s new World Trade Centre, replacing the old World Trade Centre that had been destroyed in the Sept attacks. And similarly, wanting to have flexible internal space, Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow (2008) was a 396ms long column-free space topped by a curved roof. The freestanding structures housed departure and arrivals areas, bookings, shops and offices were all designed to be dismantled and reconfigured, if requirements changed.
The Hammersmith Maggie's Centre (2008) won Rogers' studio its second Stirling Prize. Designed for cancer-care charity Maggie's, the orange-coloured centre was to be a welcoming space for patients, within the Charing Cross Hospital site, Hammersmith.
Opposite the Lloyd's building in central London, the Leadenhall Building was a wedge-shaped skyscraper (2014). The 224m office tower was designed with a sloped facade so that it didn't interfere with sight lines to St Paul's Cathedral. In 2016 Rogers' 200-strong studio moved into the building.
The very talented Richard Rogers died at 88 in Dec 2021.