The Board of Directors and the Strategic Council of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) are honoring Lord Richard Rogers, Hon. FAIA, with the 2019 Gold Medal.
The Gold Medal honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. Rogers is being recognized as his influence on the built environment has redefined an architect’s responsibilities to society.
Born in Florence, Italy, Rogers was trained as an architect in London at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and at Yale University. His outlook on the profession is as urbane as his early life and education. The Centre Pompidou was one of his earliest projects, which boasts themes that have become trademarks in his architecture since the mid-1960s. His work has been celebrated with nearly every major architectural honor, including the 1985 RIBA Royal Gold Medal, the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the 2006 and 2009 Stirling Prize and was named a Praemium Architecture Laureate by the Japan Art Association in 2000. In addition, Rogers was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 and sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords.
Rogers, who is a founding principal at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, tackles projects that continue to invigorate the environments they inhabit. His buildings are renowned for their detailing rigor, extreme flexibility and technology-driven sustainability. Echoing the firm’s six guiding ideals of context, public realm, legibility, flexibility, energy and teamwork, the melding of craft and social mission resonate within every project. Recent work, including the celebrated Terminal 4 at Madrid’s Barajas Airport and the recently completed 3 World Trade Center, display Rogers’ mastery of large urban buildings coupled with his brand of architectural expression. His projects engage the public and inspire occupants to consider how they perceive space.
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