James Stirling (architect)

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Sir James Frazer Stirling (22 April 1924 in Glasgow – 25 June 1992 in London) was one of the most important British architects of postmodernism. He is known for his colorful, geometric approach and the unusual shapes and forms his buildings take on.

[edit] Life

James Stirling studied architecture from 1945 until 1950 at the University of Liverpool. In 1956, he founded with James Gowan the firm Stirling and Gowan. The best-known result of this cooperation is the Engineering Building in Leicester, which is noted for its tecnical and geometric character. This is also marked by the isometry from a bird's eye perspective, which was frequently used by Stirling. From 1963 he managed the firm alone.

In 1971, Michael Wilford, who had worked in the firm since 1960, became partner of the firm. In the 1970s, the architectural signature of Stirling began to change. The former rationalist, or rather brutalist regarded Stirling changed himself to one of the leading representatives of eclectic postmodernism. The Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart is regarded as a relevant masterpiece, which combines a diversity of regional and supraregional qualities. In 1981, he was awarded the renowned Pritzker Prize. He was granted a knighthood in 1992.

After the death of Stirling in 1992, the firm was once again run by Michael Wilford. Various structures, e.g. the building of the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, 1993-1994, were realized posthumously.

The Stirling Prize, a British annual prize for architecture since 1996, was named after him. Some of Stirling's most well-known realizations include:

• Engineering building, University of Leicester (1959)
• Training center for Olivetti in Haslemere
• History Faculty, Cambridge University (1968)
• Expansion of Rice University in Texas
• Several low cost housing projects and residences
• Andrew Melville Hall (Residence) for the University of St Andrews (1968)
• Performing Arts Center for Cornell University
• Clore Gallery expansion, Tate Gallery, London
• Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University
• Addition to Harvard's Fogg Art Museum
• Neue Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart (1977-1983)
• Science Library, University of California, Irvine (1995) (with Michael Wilford)
• No 1 Poultry, City of London (1998)

[edit] External links

• Pritzker Prize website - James Stirling: http://www.pritzkerprize.com/stirling.htm