James Stirling (architect)

Sir James Frazer Stirling
James Stirling in Venice
Born	22 April 1926 Glasgow
Died	25 June 1992(1992-06-25) (aged 66) London
Occupation	Architect
Awards	Alvar Aalto Medal, 1977 RIBA Royal Gold Medal, 1980 Pritzker Prize, 1981 Praemium Imperiale, 1990
Buildings	Andrew Melville Hall, St Andrews, 1960 Engineering Building, Leicester, 1963 History Faculty Library, Cambridge, UK, 1967 Neue Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, 1983 Clore Gallery, London, 1987 No 1 Poultry, London, 1997 (posthumous completion by firm)

Sir James Frazer Stirling RA (22 April 1926 – 25 June 1992) was a British architect.

Stirling worked in partnership with James Gowan from 1956 to 1963, then with Michael Wilford from 1971 until 1992.

Stirling was born in Glasgow. His year of birth is widely quoted as 1926 but his longstanding friend Colin St John Wilson later stated it was 1924. Stirling went to school at Quarry Bank High School, Liverpool, England. During World War II, he joined the Black Watch before transferring to the Parachute Regiment. He was parachuted behind German enemy lines before D-Day and wounded twice, before returning to Britain.

Stirling studied architecture from 1945 until 1950 at the University of Liverpool, where Colin Rowe was a tutor.

In 1956 he and James Gowan left their positions as assistants with the firm of Lyons, Israel, and Ellis to set up a practice as Stirling and Gowan. Their first built project – the Langham House Close (1955–58) – was regarded as a landmark in the development of 'brutalist' residential architecture, although this was a description both architects rejected. Another result of Stirling & Gowan's collaboration is the Department of Engineering at the University of Leicester (1959–63), noted for its technological and geometric character, marked by the use of three-dimensional drawings based on axonometric projection seen either from above (in a bird's eye view) or below (in a worm's eye view). The project brought Stirling to a global audience.

In 1963, Stirling and Gowan separated; Stirling then set up on his own, taking with him the office assistant Michael Wilford (who later became a partner). Stirling then oversaw two prestigious projects: the History Faculty Library at the University of Cambridge and the Florey Building accommodation block for The Queen's College, Oxford. He also completed a training centre for Olivetti in Haslemere, Surrey and housing for the University of St Andrews both of which made prominent use of pre-fabricated elements, GRP for Olivetti and pre-cast concrete panels at St Andrews.