Stirling, Sir James

Stirling, Sir James (Frazer)

(born April 22, 1926, Glasgow, Scot.—died June 25, 1992, London, Eng.) Scottish architect. He began working (1956–63) in the New Brutalist style with his partner James Gowan (see Brutalism). His engineering building at Leicester University (1963), with its precise crystalline forms, brought him early fame. From 1971 he worked with Michael Wilford. In the 1970s Stirling developed his own brand of postmodernism that made use of complex geometric abstraction, bold colours, and Classical elements. The Neue Staatsgalerie (1977–84) in Stuttgart, Ger., is among his finest statements. In 1981 Stirling received the Pritzker Architecture Prize.