Inside-out Architecture

The Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, the British architect couple Richard Rogers and Su Rogers, Gianfranco Franchini, the British structural engineer Edmund Happold, and Irish structural engineer Peter Rice. It opened on 31 January 1977. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture.

Inside-out architecture was innovative in having its services such as staircases, lifts, electrical power conduits and water pipes on the outside, leaving an uncluttered space inside.


The Lloyd's Building, London, was designed by architect Richard Rogers and built between 1978 and 1986. Bovis was the management contractor for the scheme. Modular in plan, each floor can be altered with the addition or removal of partitions and walls.

Ispiration
Both buildings were inspired by the work of Archigram in the 1950s and '60s. Plug-in-City is a mega-structure with no buildings, just a massive framework into which dwellings in the form of cells or standardised components could be slotted. The machine had taken over and people were the raw material being processed, the difference being that people are meant to enjoy the experience.