Please stand up for the great Richard Rogers. Royal Academy staff were skipping about with joy when they opened an exhibition of the works of Lord Rogers, Inside Out, on July 18 at their new studio space in Burlington Gardens.
Rogers, the architect behind the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd’s building and the inverted saucer that was the Millennium Dome, was first knighted then ennobled for his efforts to embellish the world landscape.
But some visitors have since been grumbling that they are expected to stand and admire his creative genius, rather than sit down in quiet contemplation during the exhibition, which is open until mid-October. This is an unfortunate oversight, especially as the show is accompanied by text about a “vibrant public realm” and “interaction” which “bring together diverse sections of society and breed a sense of tolerance, awareness, identity and mutual respect.” But sadly, no indulgence for anyone who wants to take a breather.
Although pink sofas were arranged at the start of the show and green tiered seats in an amphitheatre arrangement at the end, Lord Rogers’s firm hurriedly organised reinforcement sofas last week.
“The galleries in Burlington Gardens as a default do not have seating in them, seating is added to each exhibition depending on the placement of works in the show,” says a spokesman.
“Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners very recently installed two new pink banquettes — made up of four ‘benches’ — into two of the galleries on the upper floor of the exhibition to accommodate the needs of the widest possible audience.”
