18 Quotes & Sayings By Richard Rogers

Richard Rogers (born 9 May 1928) is an English architect. He was born in London to Edward Rogers, a stockbroker, and his wife Edith, née Bird. His mother died when he was seven years old; his father remarried three years later, to a French woman who was twenty-five years older than her new husband. In 1937 the family moved from London to Paris Read more

In 1942 he started studying architecture at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1947 he returned to London to work for his father's stockbrokerage. He joined his father's company after World War II, and became a partner in 1951.

He moved back to Paris in 1957, training as a painter at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, and returned to London the following year, where he worked as an architect with his father's company until 1977. He then established his own practice, Richard Rogers Partnership. In 1984 Rogers was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture and in 1986 he was elected a Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts.

In 1994 he was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government for "bringing France into the international community of architects."

1
Architecture is about public space held by buildings. Richard Rogers
2
My passion and great enjoyment for architecture, and the reason the older I get the more I enjoy it, is because I believe we - architects - can effect the quality of life of the people. Richard Rogers
3
Form follows profit is the aesthetic principle of our times. Richard Rogers
4
My architecture tends to be legible, light and flexible. You can read it. You look at a building, and you can see how it is constructed. I put the structure outside. Richard Rogers
5
Architecture is measured against the past; you build in the future, and you try to imagine the future. Richard Rogers
6
Of course I know very little about architecture, and the older I get the less I know. Richard Rogers
7
I believe very strongly, and have fought since many years ago - at least over 30 years ago - to get architecture not just within schools, but architecture talked about under history, geography, science, technology, art. Richard Rogers
8
Architecture is a slow business, and city planning even slower. Richard Rogers
9
Architecture is a living thing. If I want to leave something to the future, it has to be able to change - but retain something of the ethos that we built up over 50 years. Richard Rogers
10
Architecture is always political. Richard Rogers
11
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the challenges facing our cities or to the housing crisis, but the two issues need to be considered together. From an urban design and planning point of view, the well-connected open city is a powerful paradigm and an engine for integration and inclusivity. Richard Rogers
12
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. Richard Rogers
13
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. Richard Rogers
14
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. Richard Rogers
15
Suburban sprawl leads to social atomisation and fragmentation and is environmentally disastrous, as carbon-intensive car journeys displace local shops and replace public transport. Richard Rogers
16
You have to modernise you have to change - you can't just be traditional for the fun of being traditional. Richard Rogers
17
The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved. Richard Rogers