Architecture In Conversation: Celebrating The Legacy of Richard Rogers with RSHP

Held at RSHP's studio on 14th floor of The Leadenhall Building, the panel discussion explored the legacy of Richard Rogers, RSHP’s design philosophy and the future of architecture. It was chaired by Will Gompertz, Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum, with panellists, design critic, Alice Rawsthorn, Ivan Harbour, Senior Design Director at RSHP, Tracy Meller, Senior Director at RSHP and Stephen Barrett, RSHP Director. Themes discussed included architecture in the public realm, urban renaissance, legibility, and joy in design.

Ivan Harbour, Senior Design Director at RSHP:

"Richard was particularly unique as an architect. Probably the most important thing was his ability to bring people together, to recognise talents in others that helped create an organisation - or a family, really - that was able to produce quite extraordinary conversations. As a youngster I was unaware that this was different. It took a long time to understand that this isn’t the way that most practices work. But I do know (now) that architecture is all about collaboration and working together".

Tracy Meller, Senior Director at RSHP:

“When I joined the practice, Richard came up to me and said, “Let’s have coffee, I need to find out how we can do better.” What he was getting at was: there aren’t that many women in the industry, we need to do better, how can we change the practice and what we do to make that an easier passage, why is it that we lose so many women in the industry? He was genuinely interested in championing the opportunities and trying to make it a more level playing field. And he certainly championed me and I felt that support all the time that I have been here. And of course he was very supportive of - and championed - Eva Jiřičná, Zaha Hadid and Amanda Levete".

Stephen Barrett, Director at RSHP:

"Richard was a big picture person and he would never hesitate to talk about the state of the world and politics. But he had a knack of bringing complex problems down to simple language and clear principles and he made them accessible in discussions. He never used jargon or language to obfuscate, and that may be down partly to his own dyslexia, but I think there was this quality of recognising that a good argument is communicated easily and clearly. And if you know what you are talking about it’s that simple. And I think that relates to his work: how to make things clearer, how buildings are put together and how they work".

Alice Rawsthorn, Design Critic:

“Richard’s commitment to planning is extraordinary because he made a major commitment to it, particularly here in London after he had built some of the most remarkable buildings of our time. And everything I knew about him through my interaction with him and everything I have read about him nothing has suggested he would enjoy the bureaucracy, the red tape, the conservatism of a planning environment but one of the discoveries for me was how much time and energy he committed to planning when on paper it was something he shouldn’t have enjoyed at all. But he clearly recognised there were grave problems and we needed radical solutions and he was willing to work to get them.”