Stirling, James (1926-1992), was a Scottish architect known for buildings that combined traditional materials, such as red brick, with modern styles. Stirling became particularly known for his designs for academic buildings, but he also designed widely praised museums, housing projects, factories, and office buildings. In 1981, Stirling was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the highest international award in architecture. The Pritzker Prize jury cited Stirling for his fusion of old and new styles in creating an architecture that “recognized historical roots” and demonstrated “close connections with the buildings surrounding it.”
James Frazer Stirling was born on April 22, 1926, in Glasgow, Scotland. He studied architecture at Liverpool University from 1945 to 1950. He started his own office in 1956 in partnership with James Gowan. The two established their reputation with their first commission, a housing project at Ham Common in London completed in 1958. The design was noted for its functional use of brick and concrete. They also designed a public housing project in Preston (1959), the school assembly and dining hall in Brunswick Park Primary School in Camberwell (1961), and a residence for elderly people in Greenwich (1964). Stirling and Gowan earned international acclaim for the Engineering Building at Leicester University (1959-1963), with its contrasting use of brick and tile.
Stirling dissolved his partnership with Gowan in 1963 and singly designed the History Faculty Building (1967), with its emphasis on glass and angular forms, at Cambridge University. In 1971, Stirling took on a new partner, the British architect Michael Wilford. They designed several buildings in Germany, such as the New State Gallery museum (1977-1984) in Stuttgart and a large office complex (1987) in Berlin.
Stirling and Wilford designed several important projects in the United States, including an extension of the School of Architecture (1981) at Rice University and the Performing Arts Center at Cornell University (1988). Stirling’s final major project was the Braun Factory in Melsungen, Germany, completed in 1992. He was knighted that year, shortly before his death on June 25, 1992.
