Richard Rogers: The Latest Architecture and News

As a “global capital,” London is home to some of the world’s most influential people, architects included. This fact has recently been laid bare by the London Evening Standard newspaper, whose list of the 1000 most influential Londoners features 30 architects, big and small, who use the city as a base for producing some of the world’s most celebrated architectural works.

Below, we have rounded up the 30 most influential architects in London, complete with examples of the architectural works which have put them on the city and world map.

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Harvard University Graduate School of Design has announced the 2019 Richard Rogers Fellowship cycle. Open to accomplished practitioners and scholars working in fields related to the built environment, the research-focused residency program is based in London at the Wimbledon House, designed by Lord Richard Rogers in the late 1960s. Fellows have researched a diverse series of topics, including examinations of public and affordable housing; how food and cooking transform cities; and citizen-driven urban regeneration initiatives, among others.

Nike has announced that it will release a special edition of its Air Max 1 range, inspired by the iconic Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. The special edition pays tribute to the Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano-designed structure, which is credited by designer Tinker Hatfield as the inspiration behind his original Air Max 1 range.

Two upcoming editions of the Air Max 1 will honor the building, with colored tubes appearing along the seams and lines of the fabric, as well as the sole. A large P logo on the translucent sole offers a further tribute to the controversial structure, opened in 1977.

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VA Australia’s Minister for Transport has unveiled designs for five new underground metro stations in the city of Melbourne, designed by a collaborative team comprising HASSELL, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and Weston Williamson. Scheduled to open in 2025, the new stations will “combine functionality, space and natural light with the latest in public transport infrastructure design.”

The new stations, named North Melbourne, Parkville, State Liberty, Town Hall and Anzac, will each draw on an individual surrounding character to inform their architectural style. The schemes will also include public amenities such as parks, bicycle facilities, and community plazas.

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London-based Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has released the first images of their 1.4-million-square-foot (130,000-square-meter) commercial tower for Toronto, Canada. Having won an international competition for the design of “The HUB” in 2017, the RSHP scheme has progressed with the potential to become a dominant fixture on the Toronto skyline.

Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) has announced the six recipients of their 2018 Richard Rogers Fellowship program. Inspired by Lord Richard Rogers’ “commitment to cross-disciplinary investigation and engagement,” the Fellowship established last year to support individuals “whose research will be enhanced by access to London’s extraordinary institutions, libraries, practices, professionals, and other unique resources.”

The six winners will be given the opportunity to live and research at the Wimbledon House in London, which was designed by Rogers for his parents in the late 1960s. In 2015, Rogers gifted the home to Harvard for Fellowship use. This year’s winners will receive a three-month residency as well as travel expenses to London and $10,000 cash.

In an exclusive half-hour interview with Graham Stirk, partner at Richard Rogers' London-based practice RSHP (Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners), Monocle's Tom Edwards dives into discussing the complexity of some of the practice’s recent projects. Stirk is best known for designing some of the firm's iconic London buildings, such as the Leadenhall Building (or “Cheesegrater”) and the more controversial NEO Bankside.

Madrid is unfathomable. If the city itself is immense, it´s examples of interesting architecture are overwhelming. For over a half a century, Madrid has been an experimental laboratory for modern and contemporary architecture in Spain. With numerous examples of innovative and experimental architecture, as well as many failures, few of which are valued and recognized. This selection seeks to show archetypal examples of architecture that have transcended time; it does not intend to be an exhaustive list of the city´s architectural works. Many will think that the list lacks important buildings and personally, I couldn´t agree more. That is perhaps the beauty of Madrid: there is a diversity of opinion, there are thousands of sites to see, the city surprises you with every step you take.

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Following extensive renovations led by Philip Gumuchdjian and landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, 'Wimbledon House'—formerly known as the Rogers House or '22 Parkside'—has reopened as the Harvard GSD's primary residence and London venue for the Richard Rogers Fellowship.

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The Harvard University Graduate School of Design in Massachusetts has announced the winners of the Richard Rogers Fellowship 2017. Launched in October 2016, the Fellowship seeks to act as an international platform assembling experts and practitioners from a broad range of disciplines, using the built environment to positively impact on the quality of human life. The six inaugural Fellows, selected from 200 applicants worldwide, will undertake three months of research at the Wimbledon House, a Grade II listed residence in London gifted to the School by world-renowned British architect Richard Rogers.

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As reported by the Architects' Journal, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP)—the London-based practice led by Richard Rogers—have been selected, "following a developer-led competition," to expand the iconic British Library complex in London – designed by Colin St. John Wilson in 1962 and eventually completed in 1997. The national library is widely considered to be the largest public building ever constructed in the United Kingdom over the course of the 20th Century. In 2015, the buildings were awarded the highest level of Listed (protection) status.

Reviled by Parisians for its shocking inside-out appearance when it first opened in 1977, the Centre Pompidou has reached its 40th birthday, and as a gift, is set to receive to 2-year, $110 million renovation that will preserve the unique structure for years to come.

Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is pleased to announce a research residency at the Wimbledon House, a modern masterpiece designed by world-renowned British architect Richard Rogers. Open to accomplished professionals and scholars working in any field related to the built environment, the Richard Rogers Fellowship is dedicated to advancing research on a wide range of issues—social, economic, technological, political, environmental—that are critical to shaping the contemporary city.

The Serpentine Galleries has announced a new process for the selection of architects for its successful Summer Serpentine Pavilion program.

For the event’s first 16 years, the annual commissions were selected by program founder and former Serpentine Galleries director Julia Peyton-Jones, who left her position earlier this year to pursue independent contemporary art and architecture projects. Replacing her are the Serpentine Galleries new CEO Yana Peel and Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist, who will lead an advisory board featuring architects Richard Rogers and David Adjaye.

The Royal Institute of British Archtects (RIBA) has announced the launch of its new global architecture award for the world’s best new building, called the RIBA International Prize. Open to any qualified registered architect around the world, the new prize will be awarded to a building that “demonstrates innovative and visionary design whilst making a distinct contribution to its users and to its physical context.”

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has selected Richard Rogers as the 2015 recipient of the J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. The Institute’s highest honor, the award "recognizes a person or a person representing an institution who has demonstrated a longtime commitment to the creation of communities that reflect the highest standards of design and development."

Rogers was selected as the prize's 16th recipient for "his career-long focus on creating sustainable communities that thrive by providing a high quality of life for all citizens."