About this talk

Running time: 25 minutes

James Stirling's reputation is based on a sequence of closely related buildings, projects and drawings over the past 25 years. His influence amongst students and fellow architects alike can be seen world-wide, from his Royal Gold Medal citation in 1980.

Probably the most important work to emerge from Stirling's partnership with James Gowan (see Life & Work) was the Leicester University Engineering Building, a symphony of glass, industrial framing and red brick and tile: a manner which continued in his independent work in the 1960s at Cambridge and Oxford.

In 1971, Stirling formed his partnership with Michael Wilford (see All Change At Bilbao) and their commissions came mainly from abroad: Germany, where they won two important competitions, and the USA. In this talk he describes how his ideas had developed since his student days; and he illustrates his projects past and present. A thread of continuity runs through them all, despite the fact that he says "I see ourselves going into the future oscillating between formal and a-formal, between restrained and exuberant".

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