JAMES STIRLING

Leader of the great transition from the Modern Movement to the

architecture of the New
an architecture that once more has recognized historical roots, once
more has close
connections with the buildings surrounding it, once more can be
called a new tradition.
 Sir James Frazer Stirling (1926-1992)

Born in Glasgow, Scotland

Educated from Liverpool University
1956-1992, architectural practice (with James
Gowan and later with Michael Wilford)
Works mainly in England, US and Germany
His classroom projects mainly based on Classicism
of Ecole des Beaux Arts
But he himself was concentrated on International
style
1970s Buildings in US show contextualism
His German projects, including Staatsgalerie are
postmodern
Pritzker Prize in 1981
 Career and Design Philosophies

Started with International style (1950s)-small scale houses and housing

complexes all built with traditional bricks and traditional English forms
of warehouses, factories, barns etc.
Modern-functional, austere(no ornamentation) and with volumes
defined by clean spaces and lines.
But these were very humane in scale and style.
Communal vitality and integration in terms of space and circulation.
Architecture is not a question of style or appearance, it is how you
organize spaces and movement for a place and activity
He was one of the earliest architects to use technology and new
materials in architecture, but he always believed that the humanistic
approach has to be given more importance.
 The use of color was a characteristic of Stirling, who saw
architecture as an expression of art, not merely of social planning
and engineering.
Stirling signature was mullioned glass, colored building materials
(including green window frames, purple and turquoise moldings,
and pink railings against yellow stucco and Portland stone), and
simple geometric forms and apparently random fenestration
punched and cut into the building.
During the 1970s, the architectural signature of Stirling began to
change as the scale of his projects moved from small and not
very profitable to very large, as Stirling's architecture became
more overtly neoclassical, though it remained deeply imbued
with his powerful revised modernism. This produced a wave of
dramatically spare, large-scale urban projects.
Staatsgaleries powerful basic concept has a large number of
architectural amusements and decorative allusions, which led
many to mistakenly see it as an example of postmodernism.
 Worked with Lyons, Israel & Ellis in London for several years
before he formed a partnership with James Gowan.
Influenced by the later designs of Le Corbusier and the theories
of the Smithsons, Stirling and Gowan produced several influential
buildings which started a trend toward brick and exposed
concrete.
Early designs, especially for Cambridge and Oxford, often
emphasized concept over aesthetic and utilitarian needs.
Later works appeared more formal due to their influence from
Post-Modern classicism.
Criticized for his ability to continually alter his fundamental
architectural principles.
In 1971, Stirling began to work in association with Michael
Wilford.
From this point on, the scale and number of his projects
broadened to include museums, galleries, libraries and theaters.
 In an article written in 1979 for
Contemporary Architects, Stirling said, "I
believe that the shapes of a building
should indicateperhaps displaythe
usage and way of life of its occupants, and
it is therefore likely to be rich and varied in
appearance, and its expression is unlikely
to be simple...in a building we did at
Oxford some years ago, it was intended
that you could recognize the historic
elements of courtyard, entrance gate
towers, cloisters; also a central object
replacing the traditional fountain or statue
 ..."If the expression of functional-symbolic forms and
familiar elements is foremost, the expression of structure
will be secondary, and if structure shows, it is not in my
opinion, the engineering which counts, but the way in
which the building is put together that is important."
 Contextualism
Contextualism is a theory of design wherein modern building types are
harmonized with urban forms usual to a traditional city.
By the 1970s Stirling's work took another turn: his buildings began to show
a greater interest in their context, in symmetry, and in historical allusion.
The two examples of Stirling's completed commissions in America appeared
during this period.
The first, an extension of the School of Architecture at Rice University, was
commissioned in 1979 and completed in 1981; the second, the Sackler
Museum at Harvard University, was also commissioned in 1979 and
completed in 1985.
The Rice building, "a lesson in restraint," was the ultimate in contextual
architecture. Both the materials and the design forms were the same as the
original buildings, but Stirling used and interpreted them in witty and off-
beat ways (for example, a two story arch on the main facade included a
round window near the top set decidedly off-center) to give life and light to
this addition.
The Sackler Museum, on the other hand, was a free standing building,
located on a small lot across from the Fogg Museum, with which it was
intended to be connected by an enclosed catwalk over an entrance that
some said recalls the ancient Lion Gate at Mycenae and others insisted was
Superman's Fortress of Solitude. The exterior of the building was striped
orange and grey brick, and the interior continued this color pattern.
 Lovett
Hall

Main
faade of
Rice
University
 Interior
of
Sackler
Museum

Exterior
of
Sackler
Museum
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER

Architect : James Stirling

Location : Leicester University, Leicester, England
Construction : 1959 - 1963
period
Bldg. type : Academic
Construction : Trusses
system
Climate : Temperate
Style : Modern
 This project was done with James Gowan.
Has large areas of glazing contrasted with heavy masonry
forms.
The auditoriums are cantilevered structures. Although all
of the materials look made of stock parts, the aesthetic
power is striking.
The balance of parts creates a memorable image.
The buildings cannot be understood from any one
viewpoint, and can by best understood on the basis of an
isometric drawing.
The Engineering Building was a strong contrast to earlier
British post World War II work, and was the origin of
James Stirling's international reputation.
 Plans and Elevations

SITE PLAN
Axonometric View
 HISTORY BUILDING, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY

Architect : James Stirling

Location : Cambridge University, England
Construction : 1964 - 1967
period
Bldg. type : Academic library and offices
Construction : Glass in steel frames, concrete with
brick system cladding
Climate : Temperate
Style : Modern
 Stirling's most controversial work consists of a great
double-glazed sloping roof over the reading room
contrasted with the multistoried structure containing
enclosed spaces, which in turn are stepped to
accommodate larger spaces on the lower floors.
The stair tower is articulated as a separate element.
The powerful image caused an ambivalent response from
critics and the public.
The building design was violently attacked in the British
press, although defended by the history faculty.
In 1985 consideration was given as to whether the
building should be destroyed.
The building has suffered from lack of maintenance, but
has since been repaired.
Plans and Elevations
Axonometric View
 ART GALLERY ADDITION, STAATSGALERIE,
STUTTGART
Architect : James Stirling
Location : Stuttgart, Germany
Construction : 1977 - 1983
period
Bldg. type : Art Museum
Construction : Stone Cladding
system
Climate : Temperate
Style : Post-Modern
 This building was an addition to the existing Staatsgalerie.
It consisted of a new gallery extension, chamber theater and music school.
A feature of the site was a pedestrian walk diagonally across the property to
be incorporated in the plan without jeopardizing building security.
The design was not well-received in the German press.
Was disturbing because it was not a classically modernist design.
As it developed, it was recognized that James Stirling had brought off a
project which reinterpreted the past in a brilliant new way.
The complexity of the project, and its references to existing buildings both
old and new reward close study.
For instance, not far away from the site is the Weissenhofsiedlung, with
buildings by Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and J. J. P. Oud.
A hint of this may be found in one elevation of the building, at the rear of
the chamber theater.
The more obvious source is the reinterpretation of the classical museum
such as Shinkel's Altes Museum in Berlin (1824), but in the Stuttgart
building, the central domed rotunda is replaced with the open air circular
court, a true public space.
Plans and Sections
 Other Works

St Andrews University, Fife, United Kingdom, 1968

OLIVETTI TRAINING SCHOOL, HASLEMERE, SURREY (1969-
1972)
THE ARTHUR M. SACKLER MUSEUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
(1979-1985)
Plans and Section
THE CLORE GALLERY ADDITION TO THE TATE GALLERY
(TURNER MUSEUM) MILLBANK, LONDON (1980-1987)