Biography of Architect Richard Rogers, Designer of 3 WTC

Biography of Architect Richard Rogers, Designer of 3 WTC British architect Richard Rogers (born July 23, 1933) has designed some of the most important buildings of the modern era. Beginning with the Parisian Centre Pompidou, his building designs have been characterized as being inside out, with facades that look more like working mechanical rooms. In 2007 he received architectures highest honor and became a Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, becoming Lord Rogers of Riverside, but in the U.S. Rogers is best known for rebuilding Lower Manhattan after 9/11/01. His 3 World Trade Center was one of the last towers to be realized. Fast Facts: Richard Rogers Occupation: British ArchitectBorn: July 23, 1933 in Florence, ItalyEducation: Yale UniversityKey Accomplishments: Centre Pompidou with Renzo Piano; Three World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan; 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize Early Life Born in Florence, Italy to an English father and Italian mother, Richard Rogers was raised and educated in Britain. His father studied medicine and hoped that Richard would pursue a career in dentistry. Richards mother was interested in modern design and encouraged her sons interest in the visual arts. A cousin, Ernesto Rogers, was one of Italys prominent architects. In his Prizker acceptance speech, Rogers noted that it was Florence where my parents instilled in my brother Peter and me a love of beauty, a sense of order, and the importance of civic responsibility. As war broke out in Europe, the Rogers family moved back to England in 1938 where young Richard attended public schools. He was dyslexic and did not do well. Rogers had a run-in with the law, entered the National Service, became inspired by the work of his relative, Ernesto Rogers, and ultimately decided to enter Londons Architectural Association school. Later he moved to the U.S. to pursue a masters degree in architecture at Yale University on a Fulbright Scholarship. There he developed relationships that would last a lifetime. Partnerships After Yale, Rogers worked for Skidmore, Owings Merrill (SOM) in the U.S. When he finally returned to England, he formed Team 4 architectural practice with Norman Foster, Fosters wife Wendy Cheeseman, and Rogers wife Su Brumwell. By 1967, the couples had split to form their own firms. In 1971 Rogers entered a partnership with the Italian architect Renzo Piano. Although the partnership dissolved in 1978, both architects became world famous with their work in Paris France - the Centre Pompidou, completed in 1977. Rogers and Piano had invented a new type of architecture, where the mechanics of a building were not simply transparent but showcased as part of the facade. It was a different kind of postmodern architecture that many began to call high-tech and inside-out architecture. Exterior of Centre Pompidou. Richard T. Nowitz/Getty Images Rogers chose good partners, although it was Renzo Piano and not Rogers who in 1998 would win the first Pritzker Prize and then Norman Foster won in 1999. Rogers won in 2007, and the Pritzker Jury was still talking about Pompidou, saying it revolutionized museums, transforming what had once been elite monuments into popular places of social and cultural exchange, woven into the heart of the city. After Pompidou, the team split and the Richard Rogers Partnership was established 1978, which eventually became Rogers Stirk Harbour Partners in 2007. Personal Life Rogers married Susan (Su) Brumwell before they both went off to study at Yale University - he studied architecture and she studied town planning. She was the daughter of Marcus Brumwell who headed the Design Research Unit (DRU), a moving force in British design. The couple had three children and divorced in the 1970s, during the work on Centre Pompidou. Shortly after, Rogers married the former Ruth Elias of Woodstock, New York and Providence, Rhode Island. Called Ruthie, Lady Rogers is a well-known chef in Britain. The couple had two children. All of Richard Rogers children are sons. Famous Quote Architecture is too complex to be solved by any one person. Collaboration lies at the heart of all my work. Legacy Like all great architects, Richard Rogers is a collaborator. He partners not only with people but also with new technologies, the environment, and the societies in which we all live. He was an eary champion of energy efficiency and sustainability in a profession that came late to taking responsibility in protecting the environment. His fascination with technology is not merely for artistic effect, cites the Pritzker Jury, but more importantly, it is a clear echo of a buildings program and a means to make architecture more productive for those it serves. Inside Lloyds of London. Sean Batten/Getty Images (cropped) After the success of the Centre Pompidou in the 1970s, Rogers next huge project was the Lloyds of London building completed in 1986. The Pritzker Jury cited it as another landmark of late twentieth century design and that it established Richard Rogers’ reputation as a master not only of the large urban building, but also of his own brand of architectural expressionism. In the 1990s Rogers tried his hand at tensile architecture and created Londons temporary Millennium Dome, which is still being used as the O2 arena center of entertainment in Southeast London. The Rogers Partnership has designed buildings and cities all over the world - from Japan to Spain, Shanghai to Berlin, and Sydney to New York. In the U.S. he was part of the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 - Tower 3 at 175 Greenwich Street is a Rogers design, completed in 2018. Rogers legacy is as the responsible architect, the professional who considers the workplace, the building site, and the world we share. He was the first architect to deliver the prestigious Reitch Lecture in 1995. In Sustainable City: Cities for a Small Planet he lectured the world: Other societies have faced extinction - some, like the Easter Islanders of the Pacific, the Harappa civilization of the Indus Valley, the Teotihuacan in pre-Columbian America, due to ecological disasters of their own making. Historically, societies unable to solve their environmental crises have either migrated or become extinct. The vital difference today is that the scale of our crisis is no longer regional but global: it involves all of humanity and the entire planet. The Leadenhall Building, London, UK. Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Clever inventions. The possibilities of the mind

Clever inventions. The possibilities of the mind Useful inventions of all time If asked about the biggest invention of our time, people would probably name the Internet. It allows us to connect with friends around the world and establish connections we never knew existed. You want to talk to your favorite celebrity or find out what has been going on in Eastern Asia? - Google will help you! A hundred years ago, we could not imagine the luxury of interacting with people miles away from us. The credit goes to Lawrence Roberts, the inventor of the first Internet prototype. However, apart from the global communication system, what can we name as the greatest invention? You may argue about the usefulness of this or that device, but we can assure you they have all made a fair contribution to our routine. Where would the mankind be, if it was not for the phone or text messages we are used to exchanging whenever we want to share information? On top of that, we should include some of the things that were necessary for the development of the human race: The wheel. The wheel is truly one of the inventions of the humankind, the value of which cannot be overlooked today. The concept of the first wheel was developed in 3500 B.C., and it was a blessing for everyone. People had massive problems with transporting goods and moving them from one town to another, so we guess this discovery was by far one of the most expected in the history of human civilization. These days, wheels are used everywhere, and the history we know was shaped with the help of this tool. The compass. Do you remember Captain Jack’s compass that showed the thing you wanted most? Well, magic aside, sailors used to navigate by the stars. Suffice to say, it was not a very safe methodic, as it forced them to skip their craft on cloudy evenings or in the daytime. Before the invention of the first compass, captains were bound to obey the mere changes of the weather, and had to wait until the sky was clear again. The situation changed, however, when the compass we know today was invented. The secret to successful navigating is the magnetized needle, which points north. The printing press. As we know, very few people had access to books back in the Middle Ages. The printing press appeared as a revolutionary device and changed the way we perceive printing today. Johannes Gutenberg decided to alter the course of history by inventing a special machine, which pressed ink to the paper so that the paint remained on the surface for long. This is another invention that led to the development of the human race, the importance of which cannot be overstated. The printing devices we have today allow us to immerse in the world of literature and become educated individuals through reading. The telephone. The invention of this device presents a series of experiments, which all led to failure. Many scientists struggled to build an electronic device, which would allow people to communicate via wires. However, electronic transmission did not seem possible until Alexander Graham Bell took the initiative in his hands. He invented the phone in 1876, and was awarded a patent for his discovery that led to revolutionizing the world of communication. He had a lot of successors, who tried to improve the said gadget, and fortunately, phones as we know them today allow to transmit electronic signals at long distances. The light bulb. It is hard to imagine our daily lives without this device. Electricity was in poor state when Thomas Edison decided he would change the face of the world we know. Of course, we cannot attribute this success to his personality alone, as many people played a significant role in inventing the light bulb, but generally, the credit belongs to Edison. Prior to this, we depended on natural lightning and the light of the candles. That was romantic, in some ways, and uncomfortable as well, as people had to work during the day and finish their chores before the sun went down. Now, we can sit up all night and be sure the lightning is bright and comfortable, thanks to the invention that Thomas Edison proudly patented. Penicillin. The story behind the invention of Penicillin is awesome. In 1928 there was a Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming, who conducted a series of experiments in his private laboratory. During one of the experiments, he left a lid on a dish with bacteria opened. Later, he discovered that bacteria were dead as the dish became contaminated with mold. Later, Fleming found out that the mold was called fungus Penicillium, and it was cleared and purified by scientists to turn it into a strong medication, which changed the course of science and was a big history turn in the first half of the 20th century.