James Stirling

Little did he know that he would later become one of the most celebrated British architects, and Britain’s most notorious postmodern protagonist – the antithesis of the modern movement. 

After completing the Engineering building, Stirling and Gowan dissolved their partnership and Stirling would continue working on the next two projects independently. The second project was the History Faculty Library at the University of Cambridge (from 1968), as shown here. 

The third and final project was the Florey Building accommodation block for The Queen's College, Oxford, completed in 1971.

For all three projects, Stirling reused the same design language of planes, contrasting engineering bricks with glass, tiles and a sophisticated system of steel trusses. The buildings’ expressions vary as you walk around them, alternating between solid volumes and crystalline qualities. 

The Red Trilogy also displays Stirling’s fondness of colour, an important architectural characteristic across his lifetime’s work; from his early student work, showing the use of clashing primary colours to the bold colours, in his later postmodern buildings.

Classical architectural features are reinterpreted, reshaped and sometimes reused like this single, squat column in bright yellow, a striking detail which Stirling would also insert 13 years later in another context and country for his final building: Number One Poultry in London. 

Here a conscientious surface transition from yellow plaster to the use of red bricks connects the extension with the smaller building on the right. 

Linked to the Classical Revival architecture of 1897 Tate Gallery by Sidney R. J. Smith, Stirling's extension draws on the proportions and classical features of the original gallery while clearly marking a distinct departure from its predecessor through its geometry and colour scheme.

Stirling himself was renowned for his colourful, larger-than-life persona, which was expressed through his attire including his signature purple socks. The colour purple is also seen throughout the interior of the Clore Gallery and the pink tubular handrail is a mini version of the oversized one in Stuttgart. 

Stirling died in London in June 1992, just 12 days after the announcement that he was being awarded an knighthood. His final building, Number One Poultry, was completed posthumously in 1997 and situated among some of the most important architectural landmarks in London. The material choices and colour palette pay respect to the conservation area around Bank Junction, and show an eclectic and creative play with historical references.

The façade of Number One Poultry is characterised by its alternating bands of muted yellow and salmon-pink sandstone, creating a distinctive reference to the colour combination of the architecture of Gothic Revival architect William Butterfield (1814–1900) and bronze windows in reference to Edwin Lutyens’ (1869–1944) Midland Bank.

Tucked away from immediate street view, the building exudes a much more daring use of colour with opposing yellows, greens, pinks and blues used to express manufactured materials in contrast to the softer colours of natural stone. The most striking use of colour in the five-storey office building is kept for the rooftop terrace and internal courtyard, providing visitors with continuous visual surprises.