Our guest this week is the architect Piers Gough CBE.
Piers was born in Brighton in the south of England and in 1965 began his studies at the Architectural Association in London – studying under Peter Cook (of Archigram frame) and Elia Zenghelis (who when on to co-found the Office of Metropolitan Architecture).
It was at the AA that Piers studied with Nick Campbell, Roger Zogolovitch and Rex Wilkinson – and from where the four started their practice in the university’s basement studio space.
In 1975 they formalised the practice as Campbell Zogolovitch Wilkinson Gough Architects – now known as CZWG Architects. The practice has made a name for themselves through a huge range of bold, often playful postmodernist work. Indeed in 2018 six of CZWG’s early works from the 1980s were listed by Historic England for their significance to the UK’s postmodernist movement.
In the episode we talk about these buildings including the Aztec West Business Park near Bristol, the Janet Street-Porter House in Clerkenwell, China Wharf in Southwark, Bryanston School in Dorset, The Circle in Shad Thames, and Cascades in the Isle of Dogs
We also speak about the firm’s work at Mile End Park – bridging the park over a busy road – and the inverted pyramid of Canada Water Library in Southwark.