ON a cold winter morning, the Cheesegrater, soaring untroubled above the traffic in London's Leadenhall Street, almost shaves flakes off a passing cloud. The wedged skyscraper is perhaps Richard, Lord Rogers's most visible contribution to the city's skyline since yellow spikes rose from the Millennium Dome's white doughnut to pierce the sky in 1999. Both caused a stir, but ask Ruth Rogers, who was married to the late architect for almost 50 years, whether either of these buildings (or any other designed by his practice) was her husband's favourite and she smiles off the idea: 'It's like saying: "Do you have a favourite child?"
However, Rogers did like to return to some buildings more frequently, including the Millennium Dome, the Drawing Gallery at Château La Coste in Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France (the last place he designed, for his friend Paddy McKillen, before retiring), and, perhaps above all, the Centre Pompidou, which he visited every time he was in Paris. Only once, recalls Lady Rogers, he declared himself too tired to go to the Pompidou. 'It was like an alarm bell ringing. I thought: "There must be something really wrong." On their return to London, it turned out he had Lyme disease.
It would have been surprising for Rogers not to have a soft spot for the Pompidou, which he designed with Renzo Piano in 197177: so revolutionary that it bordered on architectural madness, it was one of the earliest inside-out buildings, where pipework was deliberately shown off in bold colours. Critics initially excoriated it (Le Figaro called it 'Paris's own monster'), but the building proved a huge success and propelled Rogers to international fame, fully vindicating a young boy that had once been dismissed as 'too stupid' to amount to much.
Denne historien er fra January 03, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra January 03, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning