As of: 19.12.2021 9:04 a.m.
The “Center Pompidou” in Paris made Richard Rogers and his distinctive style known worldwide in the 1970s. The Pritzker Prize winner died on Saturday evening at the age of 88.
The famous British architect Richard Rogers has died. As reported by several media outlets, the architect died on Saturday evening at the age of 88. His son Roo Rogers confirmed his death in the New York Times. The cause of death is unknown. He leaves behind his wife and four sons.
Rogers was considered one of the most successful and influential architects worldwide. He was born on July 23, 1933 to an Anglo-Italian family in the Italian city of Florence. His family moved to England just before the outbreak of World War II.
Known for its distinctive style in the 1970s
He became known for his distinctive designs: for example for the tubular cultural center “Center Pompidou”, which he designed together with Renzo Piano in the seventies – or the construction of the huge “Millennium Dome” in London, which seems to float like an alien spaceship . He was also responsible for office buildings on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin and the building of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Shortly before his 85th birthday, he completed the construction of the “Three World Trade Center” – an 80-story high-rise building on the site of the Twin Towers in New York.
The “Center Pompidou” in Paris made Richard Rogers famous.
Image: AFP
He was also responsible for the “Three World Trade Centers” in New York.
Image: dpa
Knighted – and Pritzker Prize
In 1991 he was knighted. And in 2007 he received the Pritzker Prize, the highest award for architecture. The jury praised his “unique interpretation of the fascination of modern movement for the building as a machine”. He revolutionized museums by transforming what were once elite monuments into popular places of social and cultural exchange that are woven into the heart of the city. Rogers was one of the pioneers of high-tech architecture, which is characterized by glass and steel structures and exposed piping.
But he also had critics: According to the BBC, they included Prince Charles, who had expressed his dislike of his designs on several occasions.