Pritzker Prize laureate Richard Rogers passed away at his home in London on Saturday, December 18th. He was 88.
Born in Florence in 1933 and raised in England, Rogers studied at London’s Architectural Association before attending Yale University. He returned to the UK to work alongside Norman Foster, Susan Brumwell, and Wendy Cheeseman through architectural firm Team 4, but the endeavor was short lived. Rogers went on to found the Richard Rogers Partnership in 1977 (the practice would later be renamed Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007) and began to accrue a portfolio of iconic projects across the globe. Standouts include the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Millennium Dome in London, and Terminal 4 of the Madrid-Barajas Airport.
“Through Richard, as a young graduate, I learnt that architecture was about much more than the design of buildings, its social and political impacts were equally important,” says Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners senior partner Ivan Harbour. “He gave me the opportunity when I was very young to explore and originate unencumbered in the highly creative environment that he presided over. I am indebted to him for that trust he placed in me. Over the subsequent 30-plus years, we achieved more than I ever imagined possible, practicing together, learning from each other, always looking to the future, always looking to make things better.”
Rogers became the fourth British architect to receive architecture’s highest honor, the Pritzker Prize, in 2007. Additional accolades include the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1985, the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in 1989, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Medal in 1999, and the Praemium Imperiale in 2000.
“His absence is very close, but his presence remains with me,” Harbour adds. “He was not an archetypical architect, but he was a unique and wonderful human being.”
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