Background
Richard Rogers was born on July 23, 1933 in Florence, Italy. Son of Dada Gairinger and William Nino Rogers.
Madrid-Barajas Airport terminal 4
Richard Rogers in 2013
Rogers (left) with Queen Elizabeth II and Sue Essex AM (right), at the opening of the Senedd building
Richard Rogers was born on July 23, 1933 in Florence, Italy. Son of Dada Gairinger and William Nino Rogers.
In 1939 William Nino Rogers decided to come back to England. Upon moving to England, Richard Rogers went to St Johns School, Leatherhead. He wasn't able to read until the age of 11.
After leaving St Johns School, he undertook a foundation course at Epsom School of Art (now University for the Creative Arts) before going into National Service between 1951 and 1953.
He then attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he gained the Architectural Association's Diploma (AA Dipl) from 1954 until 1959, subsequently graduating with a master's degree (M Arch) from the Yale School of Architecture in 1962 on a Fulbright Scholarship. While studying at Yale, Rogers met fellow architecture student Norman Foster and planning student Su Brumwell.
After leaving Yale he joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. On returning to England in 1963, he, Norman Foster and Brumwell set up architectural practice as Team 4 with Wendy Cheeseman (Brumwell later married Rogers, Cheeseman married Foster). Rogers and Foster earned a reputation for what was later termed by the media high-tech architecture.
By 1967, Team 4 had split up, but Rogers continued to collaborate with Su Rogers, along with John Young and Laurie Abbott. In early 1968 he was commissioned to design a house and studio for Humphrey Spender near Maldon, Essex, a glass cube framed with I-beams.
His career leapt forward when he, Piano and Gianfranco Franchini won the design competition for the Pompidou Centre in July 1971, alongside a team from Ove Arup that included Irish engineer Peter Rice. This building established Rogers's trademark of exposing most of the building's services (water, heating and ventilation ducts, and stairs) on the exterior, leaving the internal spaces uncluttered and open for visitors to the centre's art exhibitions. This style, dubbed "Bowellism" by some critics, was not universally popular at the time the centre opened in 1977, but today the Pompidou Centre is a widely admired Parisian landmark. Rogers revisited this inside-out style with his design for London's Lloyd's building, completed in 1986 – another controversial design which has since become a famous and distinctive landmark in its own right.
Rogers established the Richard Rogers Partnership along with Marco Goldschmied, Mike Davies and John Young in 1977. This became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm maintains offices in London, Shanghai and Sydney.
Rogers has devoted much of his later career to wider issues surrounding architecture, urbanism, sustainability and the ways in which cities are used. One early illustration of his thinking was an exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1986, entitled "London As It Could Be", which also featured the work of James Stirling and Rogers' former partner Norman Foster. This exhibition made public a series of proposals for transforming a large area of central London, subsequently dismissed as impractical by the city's authorities.
In 1995, he became the first architect to deliver the BBC's annual Reith Lectures. This series of five talks, titled Sustainable City, were later adapted into the book Cities for a Small Planet. The BBC made these lectures available to the public for download in July 2011.
In 1998, he set up the Urban Task Force at the invitation of the British government, to help identify causes of urban decline and establish a vision of safety, vitality and beauty for Britain's cities. This work resulted in a white paper, Towards an Urban Renaissance, outlining more than 100 recommendations for future city designers. Rogers also served for several years as chair of the Greater London Authority panel for Architecture and Urbanism. He has been chair of the board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation. From 2001 to 2008 he was chief advisor on architecture and urbanism to Mayor of London Ken Livingstone; he was subsequently asked to continue his role as an advisor by new mayor Boris Johnson in 2008. He stood down from the post in October 2009. Rogers has also served as an advisor to two mayors of Barcelona on urban strategies.
In May 2006, Rogers' practice was chosen as the architect of Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center in New York City, replacing the old World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Creek Vean, Cornwall, United Kingdom (1966)
Reliance Controls factory, Swindon, United Kingdom (1967)
22 Parkside (Doctor Nino and Dada Rogers' house), Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom (1967)
Zip Up house (1968)
Humphrey Spender's house, Maldon, United Kingdom (1967–1968)
Universal Oil Products, Tadworth, United Kingdom (1969–1974)
B&B Italia headquarters, Como, Italy (1972–1973)
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France (1971–77)
IRCAM, Paris, France (1971–1977)
Patscentre Research Laboratory, Melbourn, United Kingdom (1976–1983)
Lloyd's building, London, United Kingdom (1978–84)
Fleetguard Manufacturing Plant, Quimper, France (1979–1981)
Inmos microprocessor factory, Newport, Wales (1980–1982)
Parco Lineare Arno River, Firenze, Italy (1982)
Pennsylvania Technology Centre, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America (1982–1985)
Old Billingsgate Market, London, United Kingdom (1985–1988)
Centre Commercial St. Herbain, Nantes, France (1986–1987)
The Deckhouse, Thames Reach, London, United Kingdom (1986–1989)
Paternoster Square, London, United Kingdom (1987)
Linn Products, Waterfoot, Glasgow (1988)
45 Royal Avenue, London, United Kingdom (1987)
Reuters Data Centre, London, United Kingdom (1987–1992)
Kabuki-cho Tower, Tokyo, Japan (1987–1993)
Antwerp Law Courts, Belgium (2000–2006)
Marseille Provence Airport, Marignane, France (1989–1992)
Heathrow air traffic control tower, London, United Kingdom (1989–2007)
Channel 4 headquarters, London, United Kingdom (1990–1994)
European Court of Human Rights building, Strasbourg, France, 1995
88 Wood Street, London, United Kingdom (1990–1999)
Tower Bridge House, London, United Kingdom (1990–2005)
Daimler complex, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin (1993–1999)
Palais de Justice de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (1993–1999)
Montevetro, London, United Kingdom (1994–2000)
Lloyd's Register building, London, United Kingdom (1995–1999)
Minami-Yamashiro Primary School, near Kyoto, Japan (1995–2003)
Millennium Dome, London, United Kingdom (1996–1999)
Broadwick House, London, United Kingdom (1996–2000)
Designer retail outlet centre, Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom (1996–2000)
Madrid-Barajas Airport terminal 4, Madrid, Spain (1997–2006)
Chiswick Business Park, London, United Kingdom (1998–)
Paddington Waterside, London, United Kingdom (1999–2004)
Mossbourne Community Academy, London, United Kingdom (2002–2004)
Senedd (National Assembly for Wales), Cardiff, United Kingdom (1999–2005)
East River Waterfront, New York City (2004–2006)
Hesperia Tower, Barcelona, Spain (2005)
London Heathrow Terminal 5, London, United Kingdom (1989–2008)
Maggie's Centre, London, United Kingdom (2001–2008)
Central Park Station (R9), Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit system, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (2003–2007)
175 Greenwich Street, New York City (2006–)
British Museum, World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre, London, United Kingdom (2007–2014)
One Hyde Park, London (2007–2010)
122 Leadenhall Street (The Cheesegrater), London, United Kingdom (2009-2014)
International Towers Sydney, Sydney (2009–)
Fellow American Institute of Architects (honorary)
Royal Academy Art The Hague (honorary)
International Academy Architecture
Royal Institute British Architects
1984 - 1987
Patron Society of Black Architects
In 2015, he was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men.
Food art, architecture, travel
Rogers is married to Ruth Rogers, chef and co-owner of The River Café restaurant in west London. They have two sons together, Roo and Bo (deceased 2011).
Rogers also has three sons, Ben, Zad and Ab, from his first marriage to Su Brumwell.
He has twelve grandchildren and a younger brother, Peter William Rogers, a property developer and co-founder of Stanhope.
Baron Rogers of Riverside