Sir James Stirling was arguably the greatest British architect of
the twentieth century. This book provides the most comprehensive
critical survey of Stirling's work to date, charting the
development of his ideas from his formative years, through his
partnership with James Gowan, on to his period in practice as sole
partner; and finally, his partnership with Michael Wilford. Using
archival material, extensive interviews with his partners and
others who worked for him, together with analytical examination of
key buildings, this detailed critical examination explains his
philosophy, working method and design strategy. In doing so, it
sheds new light on the atelier structure of his office and who did
what on his major buildings. Geoffrey Baker is the first to analyse
in depth the articulation systems used in major projects undertaken
by Stirling. He confirms that the Staatsgalerie complex at
Stuttgart does not demonstrate Stirling's interest in post
modernism but rather an enhanced sensitivity towards context
informed by his growing allegiance to the classical canon. Baker
explains how this important development in his work, powerfully
influenced by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, is consummated in perhaps
the finest of Stirling's uncompleted works, the extension to
London's National Gallery. In a discussion of his mature works,
Baker explains how Stirling's work can be understood in terms of
several interconnected ideas. These include surrealism,
historicism, myth and metaphor, inconsistency and ambiguity,
bi-lateral symmetry, the garden, rusticity and arcadia, and the
archetype, seen as the repository of the collective architectural
memory. As well as discussing his interests and those who
influenced Stirling, the book compares his oeuvre with that of the
pioneers of modern architecture, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd
Wright, Alvar Aalto and Le Corbusier. This book charts a remarkable
career, and offers invaluable insights not only into the masterly,
timeless architecture, but also into the man himself: charismatic,
irreverent, courageous, serious; sometimes rude, often stubborn,
belligerent, yet gentle. He was endlessly inventive and deeply
dedicated to his art, producing buildings that reflect all of the
above, buildings that are magnificent and ultimately humane.
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