Lecture: Cities & The Language of Architecture

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What defines the city context within which buildings are placed?

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners is comprised of many individuals with varying skills and interests. This lecture presents some of the different aspects of our work through buildings and masterplanning and to share our understanding of the wider debate about cities at a more strategic level.

Generally, architectural and urban design is limited to site ownership and programmes defined by those who commission the work.

These sites can be products of centuries of land acquisition and the attitudes to new projects are shaped by the ever evolving environments of politics, culture, technology and economics.

Graham presents a number of buildings both public and private and their contribution to urban spaces and street context. This is not simply confined to ground level but also recognises that the scale and language of a building has a profound effect on the public realm.

Ivan talks about the wider structure of urban design and strategic place making which can be cohesively developed as a new urban quarter, as it has been for Barangaroo in Sydney. Here, the primary political and human aim is to reclaim the city's waterfront and is achieved through a new series of streets and spaces of varying character to which many architects can respond and contribute.

Richard concludes with why we live in cities. Why they are attractive and how they can be intensified so as not to develop unspoilt land for future generations. His passion for compact cities is reflected in his involvement in the politics and aspiration of cities and their infrastructure. These aspects define the wider context within which the practice's work is conceived.

This lecture was given by Graham Stirk, Ivan Harbour & Richard Rogers on 31 January 2012 as part of the RIBA's Cities for Tomorrow lecture series.