Information on Loughborough

Stirlings Red Buildings

Posted on 09/03/2009
University of Leicester

A University of Leicester building, recently hailed as one of the top 10 most inspiring buildings in the UK, is to be the subject and venue for an important national conference.

The University of Leicester Engineering Building, designed by James Stirling and James Gowan, 1959-63, is one of the most famous works of architecture in the world. It was recently cited by The Independent in a list of most inspiring structures in the country.

Listed Grade II*, the early masterpiece of Big Jim (the late Sir James Stirling), after whom the RIBAs annual Stirling Prize is named, this audacious combination of function and form still inspires designers today.

Head of Engineering at the University of Leicester Professor John Fothergill said: "The Engineering Building was the first post-Modernist building in the UK. The building goes against the grain of concrete 1960s tower blocks " it is designed to excite and to be exciting.

Paul Goffin, Director of Estates, commented: "The Engineering building is probably one of the most famous of the 20th century and we are very proud to have such an iconic building within the campus.

In the years following the construction of the Engineering building, Stirling, having split from Gowan, designed two more similar works for academic bodies: the History Faculty and Library at Cambridge, and the residential Florey Building at Queens College, Oxford. All three buildings were controversial, not only for their appearance, but because they had technical shortcomings and the people who used them had to sacrifice comfort for architectural grandeur.

The aim of the conference is twofold:

• First: to review the three Red Buildings with experts who have studied their history and their performance, and to discuss their future. Work is due to take place on the Leicester and Oxford buildings in the relatively near future, and technical knowledge can be shared in a context of understanding the design intention.

• Second: to celebrate Stirling and Gowans careers from a broader perspective and to assert the value of looking after these special buildings as assets for the future. The speakers in the afternoon session are people who knew the two architects well, and in some cases worked for them.

Each session of the one-day conference will end with a discussion panel, in which audience participation is encouraged. The event is organised by the Twentieth Century Society, the national amenity society for buildings after 1914, in partnership with the Department of History of Art and Film, University of Leicester.

For information on ticket prices, timings and speakers, see www.c20society.org.uk. For interview with organiser, Professor Alan Powers, Chairman of the Twentieth Century Society, email A.Powers@gre.ac.uk