richard rogers passes away at 88

richard rogers, an icon of contemporary architecture

richard rogers, the british architect behind projects such as the pompidou centre in paris and the millennium dome in london, has died at the age of 88. his passing was confirmed last saturday evening, at his home in london.

knighted in 1991 by queen elizabeth II, rogers was considered one of the most influential architects of his time. he was the recipient of the RIBA gold medal in 1985 and in 2000 received the praemium imperiale prize for architecture. in 2007, he was awarded the pritzker prize, acknowledged to be the profession’s highest honor, cementing his status as one of the world’s most respected and admired figures in contemporary architecture.

image © rogers stirk harbour + partners

rogers was born in 1933 in florence before moving to the UK to complete his studies at the architectural association school of architecture (AA), and later on his master’s at yale university. he began his career by setting up a small practice with norman foster. once this collaboration came to an end, rogers completed one of his first major projects — a residence for his parents in wimbledon, south london. then, after joining forces with italian architect renzo piano, rogers won the design competition for the pompidou centre in 1971. after working with piano, rogers established the richard rogers partnership in 1977, the firm that would later became rogers stirk harbour + partners (RSHP).

rogers completed london’s lloyd’s building — another of his landmark projects — in 1986 and the millennium dome, now known as the O2 arena, in 1999. RSHP also completed tower 3 of the world trade center in new york. in 2020, rogers announced that he will retire from RSHP, almost 40 years after its founding. below, in honor of the late architect, designboom rounds up some of rogers’ most memorable works.

rogers with graham stirk, and ivan harbour | image © ben blossom

centre pompidou in paris

completed in 1977 with renzo piano, the iconic centre pompidou was considered a design ahead of its time. many critiqued the architect’s controversial arrangement of certain amenities. the centre, however, chose to honor his out-of-the-box vision by showcasing thirty years after its opening a retrospective on rogers’ long career. indeed, back in 2008, the institution presented his early works from the 1960’s as part of ‘team 4’ with fellow architects norman and wendy foster and sue rogers — as well as his latest project during his time at RSHP.

image courtesy of rogers stirk harbour + partners

3WTC in new york

new york city’s fifth-tallest skyscraper was designed by rogers stirk harbour + partners and opened for business as part of the world trade center’s ongoing development. the structure is an 80-story, 2.5 million-square-foot office structure — known as ‘3WTC’ — that welcomes more than 6,000 new employees to lower manhattan. featuring a reinforced concrete core encased by a steel structure, the high-rise features floor-to-ceiling glass and column-free floor plates, creating unobstructed 360-degree panoramic views. 3WTC was opened on june 11, 2018 by silverstein properties, with tenants including groupM, mckinsey, and IEX.

world trade center tower by rogers stirk harbour + partners opens in new york (read more here)

the macallan distillery in speyside

the macallan distillery and visitor experience in speyside, scotland, is set into the landscape of the estate that has been distilling the famous single malt whisky since 1824. RSHP’s design seeks to reveal the brand’s production processes and welcome visitors, while remaining sensitive to the surrounding countryside. as one approaches, grass-covered peaks rise and fall from the estate grounds, subtly signaling the activities housed beneath. once inside, a series of production cells are arranged in a linear format with an open-plan layout simultaneously revealing all stages of the production process. these cells are reflected above the building in the form of a gently undulating timber roof.

rogers stirk harbour + partners completes macallan whisky distillery in scotland (read more here)

maggie’s centEr in london

dedicated to late landscape architect maggie jencks (wife of author and artist charles jencks), the maggie’s centre in hammersmith london has been designed on a domestic scale. the center’s heart is the double-height kitchen, from which the three sitting rooms, library, courtyard gardens and a number of other spaces for more private or personal conversations, open. the RIBA stirling prize is awarded to ‘the architects of the building which has made the greatest contribution to british architecture in the past year.’ rogers stirk harbour + partners has been awarded the 2009 RIBA stirling prize for its design of the centre.

HZMB border facility in hong kong

(RSHP) and aedas had teamed up to design a building that houses the customs and immigration facilities for travelers leaving and entering hong kong via the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge: the hong kong–zhuhai–macao bridge (or HZMB for short). the project, which connects the three major metropolises, intends to improve the overall connectivity of the greater bay area while vastly reducing travel time between cities.

RSHP and Aedas design border facility for the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge (read more here)