Richard Rogers named 2019 AIA Gold Medalist

Born in Florence, Richard Rogers trained as an architect in London and then later at Yale University. One of his early and most notable projects, the Centre Pompidou — which he designed with Renzo Piano — embodies a signature theme of Rogers' work: keeping the focus on city life and its inhabitants. The Centre Pompidou's influential design turned museums into more accessible spaces for social and cultural exchange in the heart of cities. 

In another example, Rogers' plan for the city of London following the 2012 Olympics is “a testament to his thoughtfulness, having survived the terms of two mayors with only minor modifications,” the AIA wrote in a statement. Through Rogers' guidance, his London-based firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners continues to integrate these ideals into their practice.

Rogers is no stranger to winning prestigious architecture accolades, having won the 2007 Pritzker Prize, the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2006 and 2009, and the Praemium Imperiale Medal in Architecture in 2000. He was also the RIBA Royal Gold Medalist of 1985.

“Richard Rogers is a friend, a companion of adventures and life,” wrote Renzo Piano in his support of Rogers’ nomination. “He also happens to be a great architect, and much more than that. He is a planner attracted by the complexity of cities and the fragility of earth; a humanist curious about everything (from art to music, people, communities, and food); an inexhaustible explorer of the world. And there is one more thing he could be: a poet.”