it s hard to exaggerate what a shock this building was. the pompidou centre s facade with its confusion of pipes, ducts and external corridors was revolutionary the work of renzo piano and a young british architect called richard rogers. the building itself is inside out. in other words, what you usually see inside, which are those long, dank, dark corridors which you have in big institutional buildings and it is an institution, theoretically, though i dislike the word, it s an institution there s long, dark corridors on the outside. they re actually the fun. the inside out design made the interior airy and open and equally important was the public space outside. this was 60s egalitarianism inspired by the piazzas of his home town florence in italy. his parents had arrived in britain in the 30s. the young richard rogers struggled at school, he was dyslexic, but he got into art college and then trained as an architect where he met another future superstar of british architecture
we heard a bit in david s report there about how he had a hard time at school, he was at boarding school, he was briefly in the army, he was dyslexic which he said really just focused his mind on certain careers that he could and certain careers that he couldn t do. but how do you think his background has influenced his work? well, i think the most interesting part of his background in the way it played out in his life and his career is the fact that he was born of italian and british heritage, both. and so he really brought a kind of mediterranean sensibility into british architecture, so yes, he was a committed modernist, he believed passionately in technology and later in sustainability, but there was always this love of colour, this feeling that architecture, it was not there was nothing evil about letting architecture be a little bit hedonistic and bring us pleasure too. so i think that italian side of him came out. the dyslexia is a different matter, you re right, it made him f
his parents had arrived in britain in the 30s. the young richard rogers struggled at school he was dyslexic but he got into art college and then trained as an architect, where he met another future superstar of british architecture, norman foster. my oldest and closest friend. collaborator, architect, humanist, extraordinary individual. but also not just an architect on individual buildings, but a passionate supporter of the city, of the sustainable city the compact, pedestrian friendly city. huge variety. when you go from the pompidou centre to something like the millennium dome or terminal 5, was there a vision that ran through all of these buildings? oh, without doubt. i mean, if richard, as a personality, was generous
well, i think the most interesting part of his background in the way it played out in his life and his career is the fact that he was born of italian and british heritage, both. and so he really brought a kind of mediterranean sensibility into british architecture, so yes, he was a committed modernist, he believed passionately in technology and later in sustainability, but there was always this love of colour, this feeling that architecture, it was not there was nothing evil about letting architecture be a little bit hedonistic and bring us pleasure too. so i think that italian side of him came out. the dyslexia is a different matter, you re right, it made him focus in a certain way and get rid of distractions and really hone in on the things that mattered to him, but he was a very thoughtful almost philosophical figure too, which i think meant more and more as the years went on. he really thought a lot about the future of the city