Genius creator Lord Rogers retires at 87 – and here is his architectural legacy
What a career! Few can question the greatness of Lord Rogers of Riverside, the revered creator of buildings as controversial as they are iconic, from Lloyd’s of London to the Millenium Dome via Paris’s le Centre Pompidou. The 87-year-old starchitect who pioneered the High-tech movement – also known as ‘Structural Expressionism’ – that was rooted in transparency of design, inside-out creations and buildings formed of steel, glass and concrete, rode the premier wave of the crusdade that stormed the 1970s. Lord Rogers, the first ever architect chosen to deliver the annual Reith Lectures and a man immediately identifiable thanks to his dapper style (think shirts and braces in citrus shades) has stepped down from his firm, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, after more than 40 years at the helm. Tatler looks back at some of his greatest works.
English Heritage / Heritage Images / Getty Images1/622 Parkside, Wimbledon, 1968-69
Admittedly, not as visually impressive as his buildings to come, but this bungalow built for Rogers’ parents in Wimbledon married his early architectural principles of prefabrication and structural simplicity. It was based on his conceptual Zip-Up House, a home that was quick to assemble (and re-assemble). Rogers explained at the time, ‘buying clothes off the rack is the norm. We wanted to do the same for the house – an affordable, speedy kit of parts’. The irony is that despite this house being made so as to be easily demounted and moved around, since its grade II* listing, this is highly unlikely to ever happen.
DEA / C. SAPPA / De Agostini via Getty Images2/6Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, 1971-77
This was the building that really set Rogers’ career into motion – as well as that of his chum, the Italian architect, Renzo Piano (and 2019 subject of a Royal Academy exhibition). The building established Rogers’ trademark of exposing most of the building’s services (water, heating, stairs etc.) on the exterior, what became known as ‘Bowellism’, leaving the internal area spacious, uncluttered and open for visitors to the centre’s art exhibitions. This 1970s Parisian landmark was not without its critics, but, today, it is loved as part of the French capital’s rich architectural landscape with its technicolour pipes streaming out from the sides of the building.
Alexis Gonzalez / Getty Images3/6Lloyd’s Building, City of London, 1978-86
As far as buildings go, they don’t get much more staggering than Lloyd’s, the epitome of Rogers’ ‘Inside-Out’ formula, and evidencing all the traits of radical ‘Bowellism’, with staircases, lifts, ductwork et al, structured on the outside. It’s all the principles of the Pompidou brought to London’s financial centre. A dark, futuristic vision in the city, the building is as visionary as they come, formed of 14 floors and standing at 88 metres tall. Grade I listed, the atrium is so tall and overpowering as to feel practically church-like built around the Lutine Bell at the heart of the Underwriting Room. Best of all, within the 20th century depths sits a startling original 18th century dining room with interiors by Robert Adam, the king of neoclassicism.
4/6River Café interior, Hammersmith, 1987
London has been obsessed with Lady Rogers’ River Café for over 30 years, churning out London’s finest Italian fare, namely its Dover Sole and chocolate ‘Nemesis’ cake. Of course, the food is the main draw, but the design of their Hammersmith headquarters isn’t half-bad either. Stuart Forbes Associates and Richard Rogers redesigned the famous restaurant in 2008, following a fire earlier that year. Their grand aim was to unite the kitchen and dining room around the large Italian wood-fired oven – leaving it completely open to public view. Now while dining between the likes of Dame Judi Dench and Katherine Jenkins, you can also admire the next Jamie Oliver honing his technique in the kitchen behind the scenes.
mattscutt / Getty Images5/6Millenium Dome, Greenwich, 1996-99
At the epicentre of fierce political and public debate (the building cost £43 million in total) and, today, in its current guise as the O2 arena, it feels positively nostalgic looking back on it as the original home of the Millennium Experience, a major – if lacklustre – exhibition to mark the start of the third millennium. Although controversial (it was nicknamed ‘the great white elephant’), the dome is structurally impressive – the largest of its type in the world and immediately identifiable today as a Great British landmark and one of the most visited performance venues in the world.
Oli Scarff / Getty Images6/6Leadenhall Building, City of London, 2000-14
When a building is the recipient of a nickname, you know it has been launched into another realm of consciousness entirely. Enter, the Cheesegrater, friend to the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe) and the Walkie-Talkie (20 Fenchurch Street). A distinctive 224m wedge shape, it is hoisted up on 30m legs in order to create a public space beneath, and its sloped facade was built so as not to interfere with the protected sight lines to St Paul’s Cathedral.
