Rogers’ Vicissitudes

It was announced in early July that the Welsh Assembly did not wish to proceed with Lord Rogers’ design for the new Assembly. Meanwhile, the Greater London Authority’s ‘City Hall’ building by Rogers’ contemporary and former partner, Lord (Norman) Foster, is roaring ahead on site, much praised by the Mayor, Ken Livingston. This is the same commentator who earlier referred to the structure as a ‘glass testicle’. Since that gestation, he now enthuses ‘one of the most spectacular examples of architecture to be seen in the capital for years’. Money is on Foster as having a greater impact on London now than Rogers, despite the Lloyds Building of the l970s, Rogers’ initial ‘footprint’ on the scene.