STIRLING AND BANHAM



Archigram was very much in reaction to the ongoing British Architecture.

James Stirling was the forefront of 1960’s progressive British Architectural field and is remembered as one of the most influential figures of 20th century Architecture. He was born in 1926 and died in 1992. he fought in World War two before studying architecture at the University of Liverpool with Colin Rowe, another highly influential figure in Architecture. He was a postmodernist, using references from historic architecture and ornamental relief on the facades in his designs. In contrast, Archigram was a futurist movement preoccupied with bubbles and capsules. Though both Stirling and Webb were avant-garde designers with respect to then ubiquitous modernism, Stirling won fame because his work was more feasible and often got built. Some of his famous large-scale projects include the Neue Staatsgalarie museum, Stuttgart (1983) and the History Faculty Library (1967), Cambridge UK. He won the prestigious Pritzker Prize, British Knighthood and had an architectural prize named in his honour, which is still awarded yearly.







Reyner Banham, a prominent British architectural critic and writer brought Archigram much public attention through positive reviews which he continued throughout their assembly. He noticed the members even before the assembly of Archigram, and published a review of Micheal Webb’s High Wycombe Furniture Manufacturer’s Building in 1959. Banham published extensive writing on cutting edge designers and supported the design movement focussing on technology before formal structure from its inception. Banham moved to America in later life and continued to review the Archigram members working there until his death in 1988.