James Stirling

(1926-1922)

A presentation by
Anupriya Saraswat (17)
Astha Singh (18)

SIR JAMES FRAZER

Born 22 April 1926 in Glasgow,
STIRLING

Scotland
Went to school at Quarry Bank
High School,Liverpool, England
DuringWorld War II, he joined
theBlack Watchbefore
transferring to theParachute
Regiment.
Stirling studied architecture from
1945 until 1950 at theUniversity
of Liverpool.
Attended the School of Town
Worked initially at Lyons, Israel and Ellis, then
Planning
and
Regional Research,
entered
in a
partnership
with James Gowan, and later
London
from
1950 to 1952.
with
Michael
Wilford.

Died as a result of an operation gone wrong, after

Influences
As a student, he was much

The stiff-Domino house-a

theoretical result of his analysis of
Le Corbusiers work

influenced by architectural theorist

and urbanistColin Rowe, his friend
and teacher.
His work started as a subversion of
the modern movement. He was
even quoted as saying I consider
99% of modern architecture to be
boring, banal and barren
His first defining work was with
James Gowan on flats at Ham
Common which was done in a
Brutalist style.
His eventual work was influenced
by that Alvar Aalto and Frank Lloyd
Wright, with distinct vernacular
touches. He cited the renaissance
and neo-classicism as influences
upon his work.

Career Timeline

1926-Born April 22, Glasgow, Scotland

1942-Liverpool School of Art

1950-Liverpool University, School of Architecture

1956-Starts private practice with partners James Gowan (until 1963)
1957-Visiting teacher at the Architectural Association, London
1963-Engineering Faculty, Leicester University, England
1964-History Faculty, Cambridge University, England
1971-Florey Building, Queens College, Oxford
1972-Olivetti Training School, Haslemere, England
1977-Receives the Alvar Aalto Award
1980-Awarded the Gold Medal for Architecture by the Royal Institute of British

Architecture (RIBA)
1981-Awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize
1984-Staatsgalerie (State Gallery and Chamber Theatre), Stuttgart, Germany
1985-Sackler Gallery, Harvard University
1986-Clore Gallery, Tate Gallery, London
1986-91-Braun Pharmaceutical equipment plant, Melsungen, Germany. Designed with

Walter Nageli in Berlin

1988-Tate Gallery, Albert Dock, Liverpool, England

1990-Awarded the Praemium Imperiale Prize for Architecture, Japan Art Association, Tokyo
1991-Electa Bookshop realised for the 1991 Venice Biennale

History Faculty Building, Cambridge

University, England

The library has a geometric form,

with a quarter-octagon nestled
between two linear wings, the
octagonal part receding in size
with rise in levels, in a pyramidal
fashion. This fractional pyramidlike portion, fully glazed, forms
the roof of the main reading area
of the library

The building primarily houses the Seeley

Historical Library, on Sidgwick site,

Cambridge University.
Built in 1964, and houses over 95,000

volumes, and can seat upto 300 visitors at a

time.
Multi-directional approaches in the building

are provided, to allow for different crosscampus circulation routes. Thus, four

Ground floor-housing the main

library

The accommodation

First floor- depicting the seminar

halls and common rooms
overlooking the central reading
room
includes a reading
room

for 300 readers (12,600 square feet of

shelving) which accounts for approximately half
the floor area; the other accommodation is
staff, seminar and common rooms
In addition, the library consists of a seminar

 The History faculty Building was

built with Brick and was painted a

dull, mineral red, as was
characterized by his previous
institutional buildings.
The reading room of the library had

a fully glazed roof, which attracted

criticism from the people working in
the library.

Florey Building, Queens College,

Oxford

Like all his other works, the form of the

building is primarily geometrical-semi
octagonal plan form with a courtyard,
housing a stepped court in the centre
acting as a focal point. The form of the
building is amphitheatrical, with rooms
staggering backwards with rise in levels.
The inner facade of the building is fully
glazed, while the outer facade is
characterised by a predominantly brick
facade with clerestory glazing at each
level.

The florey building was

built as a residential unit
for students at the
Queens college, Oxford,
in 1971.
The planned orientation
of the building is
different from the
implementation due to a
miscalculation of the
site area by the
university, leading to
overheating of the
building in summers,
due to which it was
temporarily closed
down.

A prominent feature are the

visible RCC supports that are

placed at an angle to the
building, reaching upto the
second floor.
The building is built with brick
and steel, and is painted the
customary brick red as seen
previously.
The building houses residential

units, as well as a breakfast hall

and communal kitchen on the
ground floor. Each room has a
view of the central courtyard,
and has adjustable glazing
which can be pulled up, like
blinds.

Staatsgalerie (State Gallery and

Chamber Theatre), Stuttgart, Germany

Built in 1984, in Stuttgart,

Germany
The building was an addition
to the existing staatsgalerie
(state gallery). The neue
staatsgalerie housed a new
gallery extension, a chamber
theater and music school.
One of the most important
features of the site was the
pedestrian walk cutting
diagonally across the
property which was to be
incorporated in the plan
The result was a built form that
focused on this walkway, which
morphed into a ramp, which
blended in with the existing
structures around it such as
adjacent Weissenhofsiedlung with
buildings by Mies van der Rohe, J.J.P
Oud, and Le corbusier..

The buildings consists of a series

of interconnected galleries
around a central open-top
rotunda. This rotunda houses the
sculpture garden, and a public
footpath and ramp that winds
around attached to the inner
walls of circular space. The ramp
connects the back portion of the
museum, at a higher elevation, to
the front of the museum, which is
at a lower level.

The front facade of the art

museum is asymmetrical and

slanted at an angle, composed
of green steel framed glazing,
contrasting with the rest of the
form.
The main building is clad with
travertine and sandstone, used
in order to conform to the
existing staatsgalerie yet
characterised with sharp
angles and pure geometrical
forms.
Blue and pink steel rails on the
staircases and ramps stand out
against the muted facade.

Awards
Alvar Aalto Medal, 1977
RIBARoyal Gold Medal, 1980-for

contributions to post modernism

Pritzker Prize, 1981-Seeley Historical
Building
Praemium Imperiale, 1990

Legacy
James Stirling was always hailed as a postmodernist,

though he rejected the term, and his later buildings,

including the history faculty building, were classified under
high-tech architecture.
His published works include a catalogue of his and Gowans
firms work under the title of Bauten und Projekte, 21
articles in James Stirling: architectural Design Profile.
His work in entirety, including his sketches and
axonometric drawings have now been compiled in an
exhibition by the Yale University pressand Cca in
collaboration, with works being displayed at the Tate,
London and Stuttgart staatsgalerie.
RIBA Stirling prize was an architectural award started in
1996 in honour of his memory.