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In Pictures: Richard Rogers, shaper of city skylines

British architect Richard Rogers designed a series of landmark buildings around the world, including Paris’s Pompidou.

The European Court of Human Rights building
In this 2018 photo, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), designed by British architect Richard Rogers, is pictured in Strasbourg, eastern France. [Frederick Florin/AFP]
Published On 19 Dec 202119 Dec 2021
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British architect Richard Rogers designed a series of landmark buildings around the world, including London’s “Cheesegrater” and the famous multi-coloured, pipe-covered Pompidou arts centre in Paris.

Rogers died on Saturday night aged 88, according to Britain’s Press Association, which cited his spokesperson. One of his sons also confirmed his death to the New York Times but did not give the cause.

An Italian immigrant and winner of the prestigious Pritzker prize in 2007, Rogers was a leading member of the “high-tech” school of architecture that also included Norman Foster and Renzo Piano.

Together they pioneered a hyper-modern style that showcased machines and technology, overturning aesthetic principles to expose the functional elements of buildings.

Among his other notable buildings are the three-towered Lloyd’s of London headquarters – which also reflected his inside-out style – and the Millennium Dome, also in London.

He completed his architecture studies at Yale in the United States in 1962, where he met fellow Briton Norman Foster.

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They returned to England in 1964 and with their wives founded the architecture firm, Team 4, which became known for its technology-inspired designs.

In 1968, Rogers met the Italian architect Renzo Piano with whom he shared an interest in developing a flexible and anti-monumental architecture. The same year, they won a competition to design a new art gallery in Paris, which became the Pompidou Centre.

Today a landmark of the city, its facade is covered by thick pipes painted in bold colours, with stairways and escalators on the outside of the building.

It quickly attracted a range of nicknames, not all of them complimentary: “The Gasworks”, “The Pompidolium”, “Notre-Dame of the Pipes”.

Rogers completed some 400 commissions in a career punctuated by big-statement, skyline-defining buildings characterised by light structures, prefabricated materials and use of cutting-edge technology.

His designs include the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Potsdamer Platz offices in Berlin, an airport terminal in Madrid and 3 World Trade Center in New York.

In this 2007 photo, Richard Rogers, one of two architects behind the French cultural centre 'Georges Pompidou', poses in front of the building in Paris. [Martin Bureau/AFP]
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In this 2018 photo, 3 World Trade Center designed by British architect Richard Rogers, the third skyscraper to be built on the site of the original Twin Towers, stands in Lower Manhattan in New York City. [Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP]
In this 2017 photo, the architects of the Pompidou Center Richard Rogers (L) and Renzo Piano pose in front of a model of the Pompidou Center in Paris. [Martin Bureau/AFP]
In this 2017 photo, the Leadenhall Building (C), designed by British architect Richard Rogers and also known as the 'Cheesegrater', is pictured in London. [Daniel Leal/AFP]
In this 2017 photo, construction cranes stand near skyscrapers in the city of London, including the Heron Tower, Tower 42, 30 St Mary Axe commonly called the 'Gherkin', the Leadenhall Building, designed by Richard Rogers and commonly called the 'Cheesegrater', and 20 Fenchurch Street, commonly called the 'Walkie-Talkie' building, as they are pictured from Waterloo Bridge in London. [Tolga Akmen/AFP]
In this 2005 photo, the Millennium Dome, designed by British architect Richard Rogers, is pictured in London. [Martin Hayhow/AFP]
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This 2016 photo shows an aerial view of the Louvre museum (R), 'La Canopee' (the canopy) of the Forum des Halles shopping centre (L) and the Centre Georges Pompidou, designed by British architect Richard Rogers, in the Beaubourg area (C) in Paris. [Thomas Samson/AFP]
This photo taken in 1971 shows Italian and British architects Renzo Piano (L) and Richard Rogers (3rd L) posing with (from L) Sue Rogers, Ted Happold and British engineer Peter Rice in Paris, in front of the plan of their most famous joint project, the Centre Georges Pompidou, during a press conference announcing the laureates of the architecture contest for the Centre Pompidou. [AFP]
This 2007 photo shows Paris' Pompidou Centre, designed by British architect Richard Rogers. [Loic Venance/AFP]
This 2015 photo taken from the roof of Paris's city hall shows the Centre Pompidou, designed by British architect Richard Rogers. [Patrick Kovarik/AFP]


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