Richard Rogers
Richard Rogers
Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside CH FRIBA FREngis a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionArchitect
Date of Birth23 July 1933
CityFlorence, Italy
brings buildings garden gives group parking presence surrounded together until
Until now, we've been a group of buildings surrounded by parking lots, ... Now the garden brings all the buildings together and gives us a real presence and identity.
activity easier information primary seen virtual
So I think that, yes, anything that makes it more palatable and easier to understand, such as a Virtual Centre, has to be seen as a primary activity within the educational and information global state.
car displace journeys leads local public replace shops suburban
Suburban sprawl leads to social atomisation and fragmentation and is environmentally disastrous, as carbon-intensive car journeys displace local shops and replace public transport.
environment
You know, the environment is fragmenting, and the environment is, in many places, absolutely hideous!
architect danger fathers knew looking nearly public radical thinking
When I started out, nearly every architect I knew was working in public practice; that's where the radical thinking was done. But, there's always a danger of looking back as our fathers did and saying, 'Things were better then.'
cities design effect life living love lucky spend square talking trees window
I love cities, I spend most of my life talking about cities. And the design of cities does have an effect on your life. You're lucky if you can see trees out of your window and you have a square nearby, or a bar, a cornershop, a surgery. Then you're living well.
changing maybe society taking trying
I like the idea of trying to influence society by taking a brief, then maybe subtly changing it or looking at it in a new way to see what interesting things can emerge.
assumption dyslexia incapable learned lots recognized school teachers trouble
I had lots of trouble in school as a child, and I lost confidence. Teachers thought I was stupid. I learned to read very late, when I was 11. Dyslexia wasn't recognized then, and the assumption was you were incapable of thinking.
five further miles rarely
I cycle, which is a healthy thing for an 80-year-old to do. I rarely go further than five miles, but in those five miles I can get to 80 percent of the places I want to go.
acceptable british education excluded express good lets people remotely schools society tend themselves ways
Education in British schools isn't good enough. It's not remotely imaginative enough. It lets down too many children, excluding them from society, and, as I've often said, people who are excluded from society tend to express themselves in ways not acceptable to society.
architects barriers berlin broken capitalism design global good meant people raised soviet though union work
Architects design buildings; that's what we do, so we have to go with the flow; and, even though I'm still an old Leftie, global capitalism does have its good side. It's broken down barriers - the Berlin Wall, the Soviet Union - it's raised a lot of people up economically, and for architects, it has meant that we can work around the world.
board bottom good
I think we did a pretty good role, linking, being a sounding board really and a driving force, especially from the bottom up. I think that part of this is bottom up as well as top down.
best create design focus greater homes life public reinforce structures urban
A greater focus on design in all new homes would make the best use of land, create homes and public spaces, and reinforce the structures of urban life.
change
You have to modernise; you have to change - you can't just be traditional for the fun of being traditional.