Tag: james-stirling | ArchDaily

PREVI Lima and the Politics of Resident Authorship in Social Housing

Ananya Nayak — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Architects are accustomed to being credited for buildings long after construction ends. Names remain attached to projects through photographs, publications, and histories, often decades after the original drawings were produced. Buildings, on the other hand, rarely remain faithful to that narrative for long. Families grow, technologies change, businesses emerge, and daily life introduces demands that no plan can fully anticipate. Over time, architecture accumulates modifications, repairs, additions, and improvisations that gradually distance it from its original form.

Who Has Won the Pritzker Prize?

Nicolás Valencia — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 05:30:00 +0000

The Pritzker Prize is the most important award in the field of architecture, awarded to a living architect whose built work "has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity through the art of architecture." The Prize rewards individuals, not offices, as happened in 2000 (when the jury selected Rem Koolhaas instead of his firm OMA) or in 2016 (with Alejandro Aravena selected instead of ELEMENTAL); however, the Prize can also be awarded to multiple individuals working together, as was the case in 2001 (Herzog & de Meuron), 2010 (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from SANAA), and 2017 (Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta from RCR Arquitectes).

University of Cambridge Unveils Restoration Plans for Historic Stirling Building in the United Kingdom

Nour Fakharany — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 05:30:00 +0000

The University of Cambridge, in collaboration with BDP, has just unveiled plans to restore and rejuvenate the Grade II* listed History Faculty Building designed by James Stirling. This structure, home to the Seeley Library, is one of the renowned “Red Trilogy” buildings from the 1960s. Initially intended to showcase the significant library and “the act of reading,” the project is internationally celebrated as a landmark from the post-war architecture era. The revitalization project aims to enhance learning and working environments at the University’s Sidgwick site.

Who Has Won the RIBA Royal Gold Medal?

Nicolás Valencia — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 04:30:00 +0000

Recognized as the UK’s highest honor for architecture, the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence "either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture.", according to the organization. In 2024, the recognition was awarded for the first time to an African Woman, to the Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and curator Lesley Lokko.

“Interesting Things Happen in the Shadows”: In Conversation with Brian Healy

Vladimir Belogolovsky — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 03:30:00 +0000

Boston architect Brian Healy moved around for his early career, before settling and building in New England. He had studios in Florida, California, and New York, eventually opening his office in Boston. Healy acquired his bachelor’s degree in architecture at the Pennsylvania State University in 1978 and continued his studies at Yale where he encountered such influential professors as James Stirling, Vincent Scully, John Hejduk, Aldo Rossi, and Cesar Pelli, among others.

Spotlight: James Stirling

James Taylor-Foster — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 02:30:00 +0000

British architect and Pritzker Laureate Sir James Stirling (22 April 1926 – 25 June 1992) grew up in Liverpool, one of the two industrial powerhouses of the British North West, and began his career subverting the compositional and theoretical ideas behind the Modern Movement. Citing a wide-range of influences—from Colin Rowe, a forefather of Contextualism, to Le Corbusier, and from architects of the Italian Renaissance to the Russian Constructivist movement—Stirling forged a unique set of architectural beliefs that manifest themselves in his works. Indeed his architecture, commonly described as "nonconformist," consistently caused annoyance in conventional circles.

James Stirling's Postmodern No 1 Poultry Building Reopens as WeWork Offices

Niall Patrick Walsh — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 11:00:00 +0000

No 1 Poultry, the iconic Grade II* listed landmark in London designed by James Stirling, has opened its doors as WeWork’s 28th London location. The Postmodern masterpiece now serves as a WeWork space for 2300 members, as well as shops, a roof garden, and a restaurant.

Revealing the Mystery Behind the Architect: What Was James Stirling Really Like?

Kaley Overstreet — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 08:30:00 +0000

James Stirling (1926-1992) was a British architect who is considered by many as the premier architect of his generation and an innovator in postwar architecture. Some of his most famous projects include the Sackler Museum, No 1 Poultry, and the Neue Staatsgalerie. Through the influence of his teacher Colin Rowe, Stirling had a deep understanding of architectural history, yet never adopted a singular doctrine. His career began with designs that were more aligned with what would later be labeled as the high-tech style, but evolved into buildings that were a series of dynamic and often colorful arrangements. Stirling’s aesthetic tropes ultimately gave the final push that broke architecture free from the clutch of post-war European Modernism as he turned the Modernist canon of “form follows function” into a hyperbole by celebrating the expression of a building’s program with his over-the-top details. Stirling’s work is still largely influential, and the recursive wave of history has shown that the underlying implications of his oeuvre remains somewhere in all architectural practice of the present day.

The Revival of Postmodernism: Why Now?

Kaley Overstreet — Sat, 03 Mar 2018 09:45:00 +0000

The argument, made by architectural historian Charles Jencks in the introduction for the recently released book Postmodern Design Complete, that Postmodern styles never truly left the architectural profession is stronger than ever. The movement from the late 70s and 80s which began as a reaction against the utopian canon of modernism has recently been re-entering the architecture scene and defining our present moment of architectural culture.

WeWork to Become Primary Tenant of James Stirling's No 1 Poultry After Renovations

Patrick Lynch — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 12:00:00 +0000

After being saved from a major renovation that would have eliminated its iconic Postmodern facade, James Stirling’s No 1 Poultry building is now receiving a gentler retrofit that will upgrade its spaces to house 110,000-square-feet of contemporary office space.

"Don't Blame Me!": 6 Projects That Were Disowned by High-Profile Architects

Thomas Musca — Mon, 22 May 2017 09:30:00 +0000

Construction is an exercise in frugality and compromise. To see their work realized, architects have to juggle the demands of developers, contractors, clients, engineers—sometimes even governments. The resulting concessions often leave designers with a bruised ego and a dissatisfying architectural result. While these architects always do their best to rectify any problems, some disputes get so heated that the architect feels they have no choice but to walk away from their own work. Here are 6 of the most notable examples:

Understanding British Postmodernism (Hint: It’s Not What You Thought)

Timothy Brittain-Catlin — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 04:00:00 +0000

In this essay by the British architect and academic Dr. Timothy Brittain-Catlin, the very notion of British postmodernism—today often referred to as intimately tied to the work of James Stirling and the the thinking of Charles Jencks—is held to the light. Its true origins, he argues, are more historically rooted.

Mies van der Rohe's Tower in London That Never Was

Jack Self — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 07:00:00 +0000

In the 1960s James Stirling asked Ludwig Mies van der Rohe why he didn’t design utopian visions for new societies, like those of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City or Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse. Mies replied that he wasn’t interested in fantasies, but only in “making the existing city beautiful.” When Stirling recounted the conversation several decades later it was to the audience of a public enquiry convened in London – he was desperately trying to save Mies’ only UK design from being rejected in planning.

RIBA to Present Seminal Show on Mies van der Rohe's Unrealized "Mansion House Tower"

AD Editorial Team — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Next year the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) will open a seminal new exhibition: Mies van der Rohe & James Stirling: Circling the Square. The show will examine two iconic schemes proposed for the same site in the City of London: Mies van der Rohe’s unrealised Mansion House Square project (developed by Lord Peter Palumbo) and its built successor, James Stirling Michael Wilford & Associates’ No.1 Poultry.

London Calling: British Modernism's Watershed Moment - The Churchill College Competition

Simon Henley — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 01:00:00 +0000

Fifty years ago Churchill College Cambridge opened its doors. In contrast to the historic Colleges, with their medieval Gothic and Neo-Classical buildings corralled behind high walls, this was in an almost rural setting on the outskirts of the city, modern in design, and Brutalist in detail.

London Calling: The Man Behind the Stirling Prize

Simon Henley — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 01:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago the RIBA doled out the 18th Stirling Prize to London-based architects Witherford Watson Mann. The decision was a good one. It was good for WWM and good for the profession – a youngish practice being recognized for a small but beautiful piece of work.

Design Competition for James Stirling's Florey Building

Sebastian Jordana — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 01:00:00 +0000

The Queen’s College, Oxford is delighted to announce the launch of the Florey Design Competition. The College seeks a dedicated team to restore and add new facilities to James Stirling’s modernist masterpiece, The Florey building, which is Grade II listed.